Facing the Shadows
by SilenceintheLibrary13
Summary: Third story in the Shadows trilogy! Jane is starting a new career while trying to get pregnant with her and Maura's second child when a copycat murder forces Maura to relive the worst event of her life. As more eerily familiar murders take place, it becomes clear that someone is sending a message, and Jane begins to doubt her decision to leave BPD. Possible triggers.
1. Chapter 1

_"One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel." -_ Doctor Who

Chapter 1

"Get your cameras ready. We don't know how fast she's going to tear this thing up," Angela said.

Maura hastily grabbed her DSLR camera as Angela set a round cake on the highchair in front of Charlotte. Jane stepped forward and carefully lit the big candle in the shape of the number one. Angela had made a lovely little round cake, with sky blue icing providing the background for colorful spring flowers. There was a matching sheet cake for the adults, but Angela had insisted that Charlotte had to have her very own cake.

Charlotte reached a chubby little hand towards the flame, but Jane quickly caught it with a firm "No."

"Blow out the candle!" Angela encouraged her as Maura took picture after picture. Charlotte looked so perfect just then. Her hair was a mass of dark, wild curls, her eyes perfectly green, her cheeks rosy. She was wearing her special first birthday outfit, a dress with a ruffled pink skirt and a birthday cake embroidered on the chest, and a matching sweater with differently colored balloons on it. Over that she wore a pink-and-white striped bib with a big glittery 1 on it, and on her head was an elaborate birthday crown that also bore a glittery 1. Her elegant highchair, a baby shower gift from Maura's mother, was decorated with little pennants spelling out the word "one."

Charlotte made several earnest attempts at blowing out her candle, but she hadn't quite mastered the art of blowing yet. Instead she just blew raspberries in the general direction of the flame, getting little drops of spit all over the top of the cake. Finally Jane leaned down and blew the candle out for her before declaring, "You did it!"

"Yaaaay!" Charlotte agreed, clapping her little hands. Then she stuck one of her hands directly into the cake.

"Oh," said Maura. "Charlotte, I have a fork for you." She turned to the counter, looking for the little fork, but Jane stopped her.

"It's her first birthday," said Jane. "Let her make a mess."

Maura looked around and saw it was already too late to stop her. Charlotte now had both hands deeply embedded in the cake, a look of rapture on her small face. She lifted one hand to her mouth and took an enormous bite of chocolate cake, smearing much of it on her face in the process. "Yum yum yum," she chanted, reaching for more. Her crown slid off her head and she reached up to touch the spot where it had been, smearing a line of blue icing through her curls. Maura laughed and cringed at the same time.

"I think it's going to take both of us to her get clean after this," she said to Jane. It often did anyway. Charlotte didn't mind getting in the water for the sake of splashing, but she wasn't a huge fan of actually being washed.

"Yeah," Jane agreed. "But at least she's having fun."

She definitely was. Maura sighed happily as she watched her little girl gleefully attacking the cake. She had been a mother now for an entire year. Where had the time gone? It seemed like she had only just held that tiny, wriggling body in her arms for the very first time. Now Charlotte had tripled in size, was walking and climbing and getting into everything, and she seemed to learn new words each day. She didn't have much time for being held anymore. She already wanted to exert her independence, to spend her time exploring and figuring out how things worked (and how they tasted. Absolutely everything she found went into her mouth). But when she was sleepy, Maura could hold her as long as she wanted, and she felt a sort of peace when Charlotte was in her arms that she'd never experienced before. She didn't think she would ever get enough of it.

By the time Charlotte was done with her cake, it was smeared all over the high chair, her clothes, her face, her hair, and somehow even her feet. As a grand finale, she pushed the platter onto the floor and started struggling in her seat, yelling "Dow! Dow!"

"Hold on, we have to get you cleaned up first!" said Maura, rushing to get a dishrag. Jane, knowing how tricky this part was, grabbed a rag as well, and they both tackled the problem at once. While Maura fought to wipe the cake off the struggling toddler's face and hands, Jane tried to get what she could cleaned off her dress and feet. Finally they had her as clean as she was going to get under the circumstances, so Maura removed her bib, unfastened her from the chair, and lifted her out. "There, you can play now," she said, planting a quick kiss on her daughter's head (she had to sneak affection in wherever she could) before setting her down on the floor. Charlotte immediately ran to her favorite present: a little ride-on car she could push with her feet. She hopped on and took off through the house, people hastily moving out of her way.

"Well, she's definitely having fun," Jane remarked, watching her daughter proudly.

"Yes," agreed Maura. "I think she's going to find a way to get icing all over the house, though."

"That's okay. We're moving out soon anyway," Jane joked. They had, only a few days before, made an offer on a beautiful sprawling Victorian in Jamaica Plain. Maura was sad about leaving her beautiful Beacon Hill home, but she loved the new house, and she thought it would be good to have a house that she and Jane decorated together, one that would be _theirs_ instead of _hers_. The new house was also a better place for raising children, with a huge yard and several large bedrooms.

"Oh, I actually needed to talk to you about that," said Angela.

"Ma, we told you, there's plenty of room for you in the new house. The basement has an 'au pair' suite that's much nicer than the guest house here. We'll take you by to see it when we have the inspection."

"Actually," said Angela, "what I was going to tell you is that you shouldn't worry about it. Ron has asked me to move in with him." She grinned at them, her eyes shining.

Maura smiled back. "Oh, that's great, Angela! We'll miss having you with us, but I'm sure you'll be happy with Ron."

Jane did not look quite as pleased. "You're just going to live with him out of _wedlock_?"

"It's the 21st century, Janie. I didn't think that was a big deal anymore."

"I thought it was to you! You always said people were 'living in sin' when they did that."

"I said nothing of the sort when you and Maura lived together before you got married!"

"You probably knew we were _going_ to get married! What's Ron's plan? Is he going to marry you, or is he just 'getting the milk for free,' as you also used to say!"

"That is none of your business!" snapped Angela.

"Jane," Maura said gently, putting a hand on her wife's arm. "Let it go. Your mother is a grown woman. She can make her own decisions."

Jane bit her lip, clearly struggling to contain herself. "Are you going to keep watching Charlotte while we're at work?"

"Of course! But you don't need me to be your live-in nanny anymore," Angela pointed out. "Maura's the only one who has to run off to look at dead bodies now. You can watch Charlotte then, and I'll just come over during your regular work hours to look after her."

"That sounds perfect, Angela," Maura said. "Will we still have Sunday dinner every week?"

"Yes, of course! We could alternate between your new house, and me and Ron's house. Oh, he has a beautiful house. I can't wait for you to see it."

Maura nodded, but her smile was forced. She didn't want to say anything because she knew it was silly, but she wanted Sunday dinner to be at her and Jane's house. It had been at their house every week for the past six years, and Maura loved being right at the center of the big family gathering. But her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing, and she hurried to answer it.

"Hey," said Frankie, standing next to Nina with a present in his hands. "Sorry we're late. I got called to a crime scene."

"It's quite all right. I assume Kent was there?" Maura had made sure she would not be on call this weekend so she could devote herself entirely to celebrating Charlotte's birthday.

"Yeah. It was kind of gruesome. A woman tied to a tree in the woods, no clothes on. Just about the worst kind of case, except for, you know, kids."

"We can discuss the case when I come Monday to do the autopsy," Maura told him firmly. "We're not talking about murder on my daughter's birthday."

"I absolutely agree," said Nina. "So where is the birthday girl?"

"Um…" Maura looked around and located Charlotte in the living room, where she was "mowing" the rug with a new wooden push toy that resembled a lawn mower. She had abandoned her car, which T.J. was now taking for a spin, even though it was a bit small for him. "There she is. Charlotte, Uncle Frankie and Aunt Nina are here!"

Nina broke into a grin. "I love when you call me _Aunt_ Nina."

Maura smiled back. "I know you aren't officially her aunt yet, but you will be this fall, so we might as well start calling you that now. And I remember how happy I was when they started telling T.J. to call me Aunt Maura."

"It's a good family to marry into, isn't it?"

Maura looked around at Angela organizing the opened presents, Tommy eating cake while chatting with Korsak, T.J. running to greet his Uncle Frankie, and Jane scooping Charlotte up so she could come open her newest gift. "I think it's the best."

XXX

"I was so busy getting ready for the party, I forgot to make sure you took your prenatal vitamins this morning," Maura said to Jane, turning off the water for Charlotte's bath.

"I took them. I don't _always_ need you to remind me." Jane pulled Charlotte's icing-covered outfit off and plunked the wiggly toddler into the tub.

"Good." Maura put Charlotte's toy boat in the water, and Charlotte immediately began pushing it around. "So, just ten days left until we do embryo transfer number one."

"Yeah. I am so ready to carry your baby." Jane gave Maura as a quick kiss as she reached for a washcloth and began scrubbing Charlotte, who had managed to get cake even _under_ her clothing.

"I can't wait to see you pregnant, although I'm also a little nervous. We have our hands full already with just one. What if we can't handle two?"

"We'll manage. If we were five years younger I'd say wait another year, but we're both forty now. We don't have time to wait. And you don't want Charlotte to be an only child, and I want a kid with Maura DNA. So we're going to do this, and we will rise to the challenge, because we've managed so much worse."

"You're right," said Maura, gently pouring warm water over Charlotte's icing-streaked hair. "We should be able to handle anything by now. And you want a little brother or sister, don't you, Charlotte?"

Charlotte looked at her uncertainly. "Bo," she said, holding up her boat.

"Yes, that is a boat," Maura agreed, pleased with how quickly her daughter's vocabulary was expanding.

"I'm not sure what the message is there," Jane chuckled.

"Okay, I need to wash her hair. Are you ready?"

"I've got this." Jane picked up a little bubble kit Charlotte had gotten for her birthday. "Hey, Charlie. Watch this!" She began blowing bubbles in Charlotte's direction.

"Oooo!" exclaimed Charlotte, reaching for the bubbles while Maura hastily squeezed baby shampoo onto her head and began working it through unruly curls.

"You popped it!" said Jane. "Look, here come some more." She blew more bubbles and Charlotte eagerly popped them as Maura made sure she got out every last bit of icing.

"Pop!" Charlotte yelled excitedly.

"Pop! That's right!" Jane encouraged her, blowing more bubbles. "You pick up fast!"

"She's so smart," Maura murmured contentedly, rinsing the shampoo back out of Charlotte's hair. This took as much concentration as making an incision during an autopsy. One false move, on her part or Charlotte's, and there would be shampoo in the baby's eyes. "There," Maura announced triumphantly when all the suds were gone. "We have a clean baby!"

"All right! Good job, Doctor!" Jane high-fived her.

"We still make an excellent team," Maura said, grinning. She grabbed a hooded towel and lifted Charlotte out of the tub.

 _"Pop!_ " Charlotte yelled, pointing at the bubble wand in Jane's hand. Jane resumed blowing bubbles while Maura dried Charlotte off.

"I'm sort of dreading going to work Monday and doing the autopsy on that victim Frankie was talking about."

Jane looked up. "Yeah, I heard him. It sounded like a rough one."

Maura nodded, wrestling Charlotte into a clean diaper and pajamas while the toddler continued popping bubbles. "She was found nude, so there's a good chance…" she trailed off, knowing Jane got the point and not wanting to say the words in front of Charlotte. "I always find those cases a bit triggering. I try to look at it professionally, the way I used to, but I can't anymore. It throws me off for the rest of the day."

"You could always have Kent do the autopsy."

"I could, but then I think I'd feel even worse. The thing is, it happens, much too often, and I can't change that by avoiding these cases. I can help put away the people who do it, though."

"That's always the most satisfying part."

"Yes. And I think the feeling I get when I know I've helped prevent the perpetrator from doing the same thing to anyone else outweighs the bad feeling I get from having to do the autopsy."

"That's a good way of looking at it. I think there's a sort of poetic justice to you catching, you know, that kind of bad guy."

"Mommy!" whined Charlotte, her arms up. Maura picked her up and carried her into the nursery, settling into the glider to breastfeed her.

"Do you thinking we did the right thing, bringing her into a world where _that_ sort of thing happens?" Maura asked, cradling Charlotte in her arms.

"Well." Jane perched on the arm of the glider, putting one arm around Maura while running her fingers through Charlotte's damp curls. "We also brought her into a world where _this_ sort of thing happens."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"And here we are reporting live from the Isles-Rizzoli kitchen on the beautiful morning of Wednesday, March the fifteenth. I am here now with the famous Charlotte Rizzoli. Otto, what is Charlotte having for breakfast this morning?" Charlotte hated sitting still even for meals, so Jane and Maura had to find ways to entertain her. This morning, Jane was keeping her attention by holding a newscast with Millie the stuffed mouse and Otto the stuffed elephant while spooning oatmeal into Charlotte's mouth.

"Well, Millie, I'm glad you asked," Jane continued in a deeper voice, dropping Millie and picking up Otto with the hand that wasn't holding a spoon. "It looks like the amazing Charlotte is enjoying a meal of blueberry oatmeal this morning, made with a special formula using Mommy's breast milk."

"Oh, Otto, Charlotte sounds like a very lucky girl," Jane said in Millie's squeaky voice, quickly swapping the elephant for the mouse as she delivered another spoonful of oatmeal to Charlotte. "I've heard that Mommy's milk is the finest delicacy on the planet."

"Indeed it is Millie, and Mommy's Boob Café is in fact the most exclusive restaurant in the world. Only two people have ever dined there, and one was only allowed in on a guest pass. Charlotte is the only person who gets to eat there on a regular basis."

Jane heard stifled laughter behind her and turned to see Maura entering the room, still fastening on an earring.

"Breaking news!" Jane announced, voicing the mouse again. "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World has entered the kitchen! I repeat, the one and only Dr. Maura Isles-Rizzoli, also known as Mommy, owner of the magic boob juice everyone wishes they could try, is now on the scene. Otto, what can you tell us?"

"Well Millie, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World is looking positively radiant this morning in a blouse and skirt ensemble made by…"

"Alexander McQueen," Maura said helpfully from the fridge.

"By Alexander McQueen, one of those designers who charges way more than you would think clothes should cost, but such a beautiful lady deserves no less. She currently appears to be getting her breakfast."

"And just what does the Most Beautiful Woman in the World eat for breakfast, Otto?"

"This morning she's having plain yogurt with fruit and nuts mixed in. It looks very healthy, but not nearly as yummy as the oatmeal Charlotte is having."

"Yes, Otto, that really does look like world class oatmeal. And it _must_ really be good, because she's just…about…finished." Jane gave Charlotte the final spoonful and wiped her face.

"Dat!" Charlotte cried, reaching for the stuffed animals. Jane removed Charlotte's bib, put the mouse in her hands, and lifted her down from the highchair.

"You got her to eat it all?" asked Maura.

"Yep. I was able to keep her entertained long enough."

"I'm impressed."

"Yeah, well, if I can get information out of an unwilling suspect, I should be able to get a toddler to eat her breakfast."

Maura kissed Jane as she walked to the table with her breakfast. "I knew you'd be good at this."

By the time they had eaten their own breakfast, Angela had arrived to take Charlotte for the day. Jane and Maura kissed their daughter goodbye and headed out in Maura's Prius, which was for the time being the only car they had, since Jane had to give hers back when she left the BPD. Normally Jane would have dropped Maura off at work before heading on to the Academy, but neither of them were going to work today.

Their first stop was to a florist, where Maura picked up three arrangements of white lilies she had ordered. Then they headed to Forest Hills Cemetery, to a grave they had visited three times before. Jane read the familiar inscription, which still looked crisp and new:

KELLY BRUIN

APRIL 13, 1978 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

BELOVED DAUGHTER, WIFE, MOTHER

Four years ago today, Maura had been dragged into the same hell Kelly had died in. Three days later, Jane had willingly walked into that hell to pull Maura back out. Every year since then, Maura had used this day to pay her respects to the ones who came before her, the ones who didn't survive. Jane hung back and watched Maura kneel down in front of the grave, placing the flowers carefully. Maura had a connection with these three women she had never even met that Jane knew she couldn't touch. These women were the only people who knew firsthand what Maura had been through. It might have been nice if the four of them could have formed some sort of support group. Perhaps the others could give Maura what Jane couldn't. But Maura was in the very lonely position of being the only survivor, so it was up to Jane to support her however she could.

Finally Maura stood up and turned to Jane with tears in her eyes. Jane wordlessly held her arms out, and Maura walked into them. Jane folded her up and held her tight. For Jane, this grim anniversary marked one of her greatest victories, as well as her greatest shame. She didn't think she would forgive herself for letting this happen to Maura. But there was no going back and undoing it. All she could do was move forwards, make Maura as happy as possible, make sure she knew how loved she was. Make sure she knew she didn't deserve what happened, that it hadn't tainted her.

"They deserved to live as much as I did," Maura said softly, pulling back.

"Nobody deserves what happened to them."

Maura nodded. "But I try to remind myself that others probably would have died if you hadn't gotten him, so at least there's that."

"I wouldn't give me all the credit for that, but yes, I'm glad more people didn't die. Especially you."

"If he hadn't taken me, he probably would have killed the next person. Who knows how many more would have died. We weren't getting anywhere with solving the case."

"Maura, you can't possibly be saying that you're glad he took you."

Maura shook her head. "I'll never be glad. But thinking of it that way makes me a little less sad."

Jane nodded, although it didn't make her any less sad. It might be wrong, but she would probably have sacrificed countless other victims to protect Maura. Hell, she would sacrifice the whole _world_ to protect Maura if she had to. But she didn't say that, because she knew Maura would be reproachful.

"The case we're working on now reminds me of that one a little," Maura said. "Not so much the case itself, but the frustration it's causing us all is quite similar. Before we had the killer's DNA, but we had no one to connect it to. This time we have no DNA. The killer left no forensic evidence whatsoever. He went to great lengths to make sure he left nothing of himself behind. It was like he knew everything we would look for."

Jane turned over what little she knew of the case in her mind. It was the sort of case she hated, but she still wished she could help with it. She didn't like being stuck on the outside. "This is the only case you've had following this particular MO?"

"So far, yes. But going to so much trouble to avoid leaving evidence—"

"Implies planning."

Maura nodded. "And planning one murder implies he may be planning another one."

Jane wanted to ask for more details about the case, to see if she could come up with an angle no one else had seen yet. She wanted to help catch this bastard before he struck again. But she didn't ask because it wasn't her case and they didn't have the time. They still had two more graves to visit before lunch, and after lunch they had an appointment at the fertility clinic, where a doctor was going to put a zygote made from one of Maura's eggs into Jane's uterus. Instead she just said, "You ready to go to the next one?"

Maura nodded, and they got back in the car to drive to St. Joseph Cemetery. They walked until they found Jennifer O'Malley's grave, where they repeated the same ritual: Maura put the flowers on the grave and knelt in silence for a bit while Jane stood back several feet and waited. When she was done they drove up to Cambridge, where they found Rebecca Laurent's grave and did it all again.

Jane could only imagine what was going through Maura's head during all of this, but as she watched her wife's silent vigil, she found herself fighting off her own flashbacks from this day four years ago, and the days that followed. Some of the flashbacks were her own horrific memories: Susie telling her Maura had never come back after lunch; finding Maura's things just outside the back door, which confirmed her suspicions that Maura had been taken; the picture of Maura that came in the mail the next day, with the two tally marks on the back, telling Jane what she already knew about what was happening to Maura; finding Maura unconscious, chained to the narrow iron bed in Nielson's house, covered in bruises with six tally marks carved on her chest and a broken wrist. But sometimes Jane also had what felt like flashbacks involving things she hadn't even been present for, things Maura had told her about or that she had simply pieced together herself, things she imagined so vividly it felt like she had really seen them. She could see Maura's expression of terror when Nielson grabbed her from behind and injected her with ketamine. She could see him carrying Maura's limp form up the stairs in his house, putting her in the iron-framed bed, and ripping off her clothes. She could so clearly picture him fastening the handcuff around her ankle that she could even see the red polish on Maura's toenails, and the image sickened her.

She had to force herself to stop imagining after that, although sometimes it came anyway, unbidden. She didn't like to think of the other, even more degrading things that man had done to the woman she loved, and she knew Maura would probably prefer it if she didn't. It had always angered and bewildered her that there were men who actually thought they could just grab women and use them in any way they pleased, but it had become much more personal ever since it happened to Maura, sweet Maura who never hurt anyone. Since then she hadn't always been able to contain her rage when working any case that involved some form of misogyny. It was probably for the best that she wasn't a cop anymore, that she wasn't working the case where the woman was tied to a tree.

She suddenly noticed that Maura's shoulders were shaking and rushed forwards to gather her in her arms. Maura leaned against her, sobbing, for some time while Jane just held her wordlessly.

"I wish we could have found her while she was still alive," Maura said finally. "Or better yet, that we had found Jennifer alive. Then we would have saved both of them."

"I know. I do too."

"I wish it partly for selfish reasons, though."

"Maura, there is nothing selfish about you."

Maura wiped her eyes with her hand. "It's not just because I wanted to save them. It's also because, if we'd found either of them alive, and he had gone to jail, he could never have gotten _me_."

"I know. I've thought the same thing countless times. It's not selfish to wish you hadn't been hurt, you know."

Maura's face crumpled, and Jane knew she was going back there, in her mind. Jane had to get ready to go in and pull her back out, as she had done so many times before. "I'd never felt so _worthless_ in my life," she whispered.

This, Jane thought, got right to the heart of the matter. Physical attacks always took an emotional toll; if nothing else, they challenged your sense of safety. But nothing cut right into your soul, made you question everything about yourself, quite like sexual assault. This was the most severe injury Maura had received, the hardest to heal. As much as Jane had fantasized about hurting Nielson as badly as he'd hurt Maura, she knew she never really could. All she could do now was hope that Hell was real, that he was finally getting what he deserved, the same way she hoped that Heaven was real for the three women whose graves they had visited. She knew people who had lost their faith from working in Homicide too long, who could not possibly believe in a higher power once they saw how unfair life really was. For Jane it had been the opposite way. She believed now more strongly than ever. She had to in order to stay sane, because life _wasn't_ fair. People didn't get what they deserved here on Earth, but maybe, hopefully, they did in the next world. And what Nielson deserved was not pretty.

"You are worth so much more than I can possibly say," Jane said quietly. "No one has any right to make you feel otherwise."

"I know. And everyone always says you should have your own sense of worth that's not affected by how others treat you, and I try to, but how are you supposed to hang onto that when you lose everything that makes you _you_ and just become somebody's sex doll?"

"You can't. It's not your fault you felt that way. Anybody would." Jane stroked Maura's hair and pressed a firm kiss to her temple. "I just wish you could see yourself the way I do."

Maura smiled through her tears. "It's probably good that I can't. Imagine how big my head would be!"

"What do you mean?"

Maura chuckled. "Every day you tell me I'm the most beautiful woman in the world, the biggest genius you've ever met, the kindest, most generous, most loving, most amazing person on the planet. No one should think all those things about her _self_! It would very unhealthy."

"It's all true," Jane grumbled.

"I know you think so, and it means the world to me." She kissed Jane and pushed herself to her feet. "We'd better get going. Today's the day we start trying to make you pregnant!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"You must be a pretty big Red Sox fan."

Maura was in the process of removing her lamé after a tiring but very satisfying fencing tournament. Her frustration over the unsolved case and her disappointment over Jane's negative pregnancy test had both fueled her today, although seeing her sweet daughter watching near the end had also pushed her to outdo herself. She looked up to see who was speaking and recognized one of her opponents from today, who was eyeing Maura's sabre on the locker room bench. Maura smiled warmly.

"Personally, I'm not that interested in baseball," she explained. "But my wife is a _huge_ Red Sox fan, and she used to complain that it was hard to tell which one was me at the tournaments, so I got this custom sabre guard made just for her. Now she can easily pick me out of the crowd!" She fondly touched the shiny Red Sox logo, smiling as she remembered Jane's excited reaction to seeing it for the first time.

"Now _that_ is true love," the woman said. "Both you getting this made for her, and her coming to your tournaments. I got my husband to come once, and he never wanted to come back. He said it was too boring and went on too long."

"Jane's complained about that too, but she likes to see me in action. She never misses a tournament." Maura took off her jacket, pulling out the electric cord. "In the Middle Ages, a knight would carry a lady's favor with him in a tournament so his fighting would bring honor to the lady. That's sort of what I'm doing. The Sox logo is Jane's favor, and I'm fencing in her honor."

The woman chuckled. "Well, you certainly brought her honor today. Third place is not bad at all. I'm Diana, by the way."

Maura shook her hand. "I'm Maura."

"It's nice to meet you, Maura. Have you been fencing long?"

"I started fencing in school when I was ten, but after I graduated I didn't do it regularly until last year, when I decided to get back into it. I'm not quite as good now as I was in my school days, but it's starting to come back to me. Today is the farthest I've come in a tournament since starting again."

"Well, congratulations! I started five years ago when I realized I needed to get out of the house more. I'm still not that great at it, but it's good exercise."

Maura took off her chest and underarm guards and put them neatly in her bag. "It's easier to learn when you're a child because you have more neurons actively creating new connections. But scientific research over the past four decades has shown that the brain retains some plasticity even in adulthood, which means that it's never too late to learn something new."

"Wow, you sound like some kind of genius or something."

"I'm a doctor," Maura said modestly. Just then the locker room door opened and Jane came in carrying Charlotte.

"There she is!" Jane exclaimed. "It's Ms. Third Place herself, or I guess I should say _Dr._ Third Place."

Maura stood up, grinning, and kissed Charlotte's soft cheek before kissing Jane. "How much was she here for?"

"About the last hour. Ma stayed and watched for a while after she brought her, but then she had to go get ready for some kind of date with Ron. She was very impressed though. She's thinking of taking up fencing now."

"That should be interesting," laughed Maura, taking Charlotte from Jane. She noticed Diana still standing there, watching, so she thought she should introduce them. "Jane, this is Diana. She was one of my opponents today. Diana, this is my wife Jane and our daughter Charlotte."

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you both," said Diana, shaking Jane's hand. "And _you_ are a cutie!" she added to Charlotte. "How old is she?"

"Thirteen months," Maura told her proudly.

"Dat!" Charlotte cried, pointing to Maura's sabre. "Dat" was the term she used for anything she didn't know, or couldn't pronounce, the name of.

"No, sweetie, you can't have that," Maura told her gently. "I'll try to find you a toy one."

" _Daaat_!" Charlotte said more desperately, straining to reach for the sabre.

"I'd better take her out of here before she throws a fit," said Jane, reaching for the toddler. "I'll meet you outside, okay?"

"I'll be right there," promised Maura.

"I'm taking you out tonight," promised Jane on her way out. "A third place victory deserves a celebration."

Maura grinned and returned her attention to changing back into normal clothes.

"So let me get this straight," Diana said, smiling. "You're a genius doctor. You're gorgeous. You're great at fencing. You have a beautiful wife who completely adores you. And you have an adorable little girl." She shook her head in awe. "I think I might have just met the woman who has it all."

XXX

Maura pushed the button to start her new car and smiled at the quiet purr of the engine. This was almost as exciting as the day she got her Triumph. It was going to be a fun drive home.

In her younger years, Maura had always driven sporty European luxury cars. She had a beautiful Mercedes coupe at the time she met Jane that she was quite happy with. But her desire to be more eco-friendly won out, and she ended up swapping the Mercedes for a Toyota Prius. And she liked the Prius. She really did. But she never stopped missing that Mercedes.

But today, Maura was driving home in her brand new Mercedes plug-in hybrid. She'd had a special outlet installed in their new garage so she could charge it up, and she could drive for up to 20 miles on that charge alone before the car would switch to using the conventional engine. The car was stunning inside and out, and Maura was in love. Driving it was oddly arousing. It made her want Jane, but of course Jane had gone home in the Prius after bringing Maura to the dealership to pick up the Mercedes.

She breathed in the smell of the leather seats as she drove to their new house in Jamaica Plain, where they were still unpacking. She smiled as she turned into the driveway and saw their new house looming before them, a three-story (four if you counted the finished basement) Queen Anne with a stone foundation and wood shingle siding, painted green with red trim. It had bay windows and dormers and a gorgeous porch, and the inside was full of nooks and crannies and more rooms than they knew what to do with. The large backyard was full of towering trees that were just starting to leaf out for the spring. It didn't really feel like home yet, but it would when they got settled in. Maura pulled into the garage and parked next to the Prius. She got out and stopped to admire the gleaming black car one last time, then turned to see Jane coming into the garage.

"Where's Charlotte?" Maura asked.

"I just talked to Ma. She took Charlotte and T.J. to a toy store and lost track of time. They should be here in half an hour."

"A toy store?" Maura made a face. "We're going to need an even bigger house if she keeps buying more toys."

"She's doing what grandmas do. Look at your mom with all the fancy European shit she sends us." Jane stepped into the garage. "I need a closer look at this fancy new car."

"It handles beautifully," Maura gushed.

Jane opened the passenger door and got in. "Wow, you have wood paneling in here."

"Yes, the walnut trim was optional," Maura told her, getting back in the driver's seat. "It has 436 combined horsepower, and it can go from zero to 60 in 5.2 seconds. It would take the Prius 10.5 seconds."

"Damn," Jane said reverently.

"I know," said Maura, pushing the button on the garage door opener.

"Mm, okay," said Jane as the garage door closed behind them. "So, I'm now trapped in a garage with a pretty lady who's smiling slyly at me. Why are you smiling like that?"

"Because I'm about to have sex with you."

"Are you now?"

" _Yes_. Get in the backseat."

"Wow, okay. This new car is doing something to you."

"It is. Now get in the backseat. We have half an hour until your mother gets here, and this isn't going to be easy once we've installed Charlotte's car seat."

"Okay, fine. But we have to be fast."

"I know what I'm doing!" Maura assured her as they both got into the backseat from opposite sides. Maura instantly grabbed Jane and began kissing her deeply, sliding Jane's blazer down her shoulders.

"Of course, we do have a big comfy bed inside," Jane pointed out as Maura slid her tongue down her neck. "But if you'd rather fuck in the backseat of your sporty new car, who am I to suggest otherwise?" She helped Maura out of her jacket and unzipped her dress.

"We have sex in the bed all the time," said Maura, pulling Jane's shirt over her head. "We've never had sex in this car before." She unhooked Jane's bra and took an erect nipple in her mouth.

"We have sex in the bed because the bed is roomy and soft and not in the driveway." Jane tried to figure out the best way to extract Maura from the designer dress without damaging it.

"But it's always exciting to try new things." Maura loosened Jane's belt and undid her pants.

"Admittedly, this does make me think about what high school might have been like if I'd realized I liked girls. Or if I'd dated someone rich."

"Or if we'd gone to the same high school."

"Ow! _Ow_! Maura, stop!" Jane yelled when Maura started to climb on top of her now-naked body. "You've got me pressed up against the seatbelt things!"

"Oh, sorry!" Maura let Jane move over and then lay her jacket over the seatbelt buckles. "There, that might cushion them a little. Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay. If I end up bruised, I'll just tell people my incredibly sexy wife got carried away while fucking me in the back seat of her new Mercedes. They'll _wish_ they could have my problems."

Maura grinned. "I think _you're_ incredibly sexy," she said, sliding her hands down Jane's smooth skin, feelings the contours of her body.

"Mm. Can you finish getting naked?"

Maura was already down to her bra and panties. She removed these slowly, watching Jane watch her. The look of arousal on Jane's face turned Maura on even more. She reached a hand between Jane's legs and found her already soaking wet. She tentatively slipped a finger inside. Jane moaned and spread her legs wider, allowing Maura to slip in another finger. Maura lightly tasted Jane before sucking her clit into her mouth with such force that Jane yelled out "Oh, _fuck_!" at the top of her lungs. After working on her for a few minutes, though, Maura became concerned about the possibility that Angela might arrive before they were done, and decided she needed to speed things up. She temporarily withdrew from her wife.

"Maur _a!_ " groaned Jane.

"No, it's okay, I just realized that mutual cunnilingus would be more efficient, given our time constraints." She carefully turned herself around so she was straddling Jane's face.

"This is so much easier in our bed," Jane complained, moving her hair out of Maura's way.

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Maura told her confidently before taking Jane's clit back in her mouth. Jane did the same to her, causing Maura to moan against Jane. The vibration made Jane moan as well, creating her own vibration, which was exactly what Maura loved about this position. Before long, Jane was coming hard, and her loud cries were enough to put Maura over the edge as well.

"Okay, so it is a bit cramped," Maura admitted after she had turned herself back around and collapsed onto Jane.

"It's not bad for a car. It's definitely the fanciest car I've had sex in, by a longshot."

"Do you want one too?" Maura asked in concern. She couldn't believe it hadn't crossed her mind that Jane might want a new car instead of Maura's old one. "I can get you one. You don't have to drive the Prius."

"Listen to you, wanting to buy your woman pretty things. I'm fine with the Prius. It's actually the nicest car I've ever had."

Maura smiled and kissed Jane's cheek, but then she heard tires on the driveway outside.

"Shit," she whispered, rolling onto the floor and frantically pawing through the discarded clothing.

" _Maura_!" Jane said in mock reproach.

"Do you hear that? Your mother's here!"

"Oh, fuck!" Jane scrambled to get her own clothes.

"There's no time for nonessential items," Maura told her, wriggling into her dress. "She won't notice if we aren't wearing underwear, but she _will_ notice if you don't have a shirt on."

"Fine." Jane pulled on her shirt without her bra, her pants without her underwear, her boots without her socks.

Maura knew they had a minute while Angela got Charlotte out of her car seat. She had Jane zip up her dress and then got out of the car to put her shoes back on. Then she smoothed down her hair, grabbed her jacket and walked out of the garage as casually as she could.

"Oh, Maura, there you are!" said Angela, closing the car door and turning around with Charlotte in her arms. "I only have a sec. I have to take T.J. back to Tommy."

"Oh, that's all right," said Maura cheerfully, smiling at Charlotte.

"Mommy Mama!" Charlotte shouted gleefully, clutching a toy Ernie. Maura glanced behind her to see Jane coming out of the garage, her hair horribly mussed and her face flushed. Maura wondered if she looked the same way. That question was quickly answered when she saw Angela looking suspiciously between the two of them.

"Hey Ma," said Jane. "Maura was just showing me her new car."

"I bet she was," said Angela. "Does it have a roomy backseat?"

"It's all right," Jane said awkwardly. "Why do you ask?"

Angela just chuckled. "Here's your baby," she said, handing Charlotte to Maura. "If you two could get each other pregnant, you'd have a house full of these by now."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Jane, leaning down to kiss Charlotte.

Angela turned and walked back to her car, shaking her head. "I wasn't born yesterday!" she informed them before getting in and driving off with T.J.

Jane and Maura looked at each other sheepishly, then burst into laughter.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Hold still," Jane said uselessly as she struggled to drag a comb through Charlotte's unruly curls. Maura thought it was wonderful that their daughter had inherited Jane's hair. Jane was not so sure.

Charlotte, of course, would not hold still. She was leaning over a violently pink toy purse (something Maura had gotten her; Jane certainly wouldn't have) and dragging out its fabric contents, not the least bit interested in the fact that her mother was trying to make her look presentable. Jane wondered how long it would be before they had two squirmy little ones to get ready in the mornings. They'd done a second embryo transfer the previous week, so there might already be a little piece of Maura growing inside of Jane. The thought was almost unbearably amazing. One day she would be brushing the honey blonde hair of a sweet little child she'd given birth to. A little Maura, perhaps.

Charlotte pulled a toy cell phone out of the purse and put to her ear, saying something that sounded vaguely like "Isles," followed by random jabbering. Jane had to laugh. Charlotte had certainly seen Maura answer her phone that way plenty of times, though it was always just Maura now. Which was good really, since it meant only one mommy had to run off and deal with murder, but Jane still missed the days when she and Maura got tandem phone calls and then left together.

"There's a headband that goes with that dress," Maura remarked, coming into the living room.

"Do you know how long it took me just to comb her hair?" said Jane. "I'm not worried about putting a bow in it."

"I'll get it." Maura went back upstairs.

"You know your Mommy," Jane said with a sigh. "She's gotta make sure you accessorize."

Charlotte picked up the little foam fencing sabre Maura had gotten her. "Mommy," she said very seriously, showing the toy to Jane.

"Yes, that's just like Mommy's," Jane agreed with a smile. She thought it was cute that Charlotte imitated so many of Maura's behaviors, but she was starting to wonder if the kid was picking up anything from her.

"Here we are," said Maura, returning with a little stretchy headband that matched Charlotte's blue and white smocked dress. She adjusted the bow on her daughter's head and then sat back with a smile. "You look so pretty!" she told Charlotte, who tilted her head and gave her mother a pleased grin.

"You know she's just going to pull it off later," said Jane.

"But she'll look very cute until then," promised Maura. "I'm going to go check the mail."

Charlotte toddled over to the living room toy chest (oh, how silly they'd been to think they only needed one for the nursery) and dragged out her cloth "sports bag," which Jane had gotten her for Christmas. She extracted a plush baseball and brought it over to Jane.

"Saw," she informed her.

"Sox! That's right!" Jane scooped her daughter up and kissed her head. "You _are_ my baby after all!"

"Dow! Dow!" Charlotte yelled immediately, kicking her legs. Jane could hear Maura coming back in as she set Charlotte down.

"Jane!" she called, her heels clicking on hardwood floors. She burst into the living room, clutching a box. "It's here! The proof of my book! It's here!"

"All right! Open it!"

Maura began delicately pulling the tape off the box, moving at a maddeningly slow pace. She was always like this. Even when she was opening a present, she always had to carefully un-tape the wrapping paper and then slowly unfold it so it could be reused. Jane watched her in agony, but she held her tongue. It was Maura's package. She had the right to open it as slowly as she wanted.

Finally Maura had the box open and had extracted a shiny new hardcover book. _The Painting_ , it said, by Maura Isles-Rizzoli. Maura always just used "Isles" at work and in her publications for medical journals, but she had decided to tack on the "Rizzoli" for her first novel. The cover of the book had an artist's rendition of the mysterious painting Maura had described in the book, which held clues to all the murders that took place as the story unfolded. Maura opened the book and flipped through the pages, glancing at words she herself had written, inhaling the new book smell.

"Here," she said, handing it to Jane when she was finished. "You haven't read the dedication yet."

Jane smiled. "Did you dedicate it to Korsak?"

"No."

"To Kent?"

Maura wrinkled her nose. "No."

"Wait, I know: it's dedicated to Bass."

Maura giggled. "Just look at it."

Jane flipped to the dedication page, which read: _For my Jane, who supports and encourages me in everything I do. "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."– Mignon McLaughlin_

"Aww, Maura." Jane flipped to the back flap, which had Maura's picture. Jane smiled at how gorgeous Maura looked and read the little "About the Author" blurb, which listed Maura's experience as chief medical examiner and a writer and peer reviewer for several medical journals before concluding, "Dr. Isles-Rizzoli lives in Boston with her wife, former Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, and their daughter."

"They enhanced the colors in my picture," Maura said worriedly. "They made me look better than I really look. If anyone meets me after looking at this picture, they're going to be so disappointed."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. First of all, anyone can see this is a color-enhanced picture. Second of all, you look _so_ much better in real life. I mean, for starters, you're three-dimensional." Maura smiled, but they were interrupted then by the arrival of Angela.

"You are not going to believe who I ran into at the bagel place!" At the sound of Angela's voice, Charlotte stopped in the middle of pulling every single toy out of the chest and ran to her grandmother, joyfully yelling "Amma!"

"Hey baby!" Angela scooped up her granddaughter and gave her a hug. "So I was buying bagels for breakfast, and you'll never believe who was there getting coffee!"

"Ted Danson," said Jane.

"No."

"Rondo?" suggested Maura.

"No. Casey Jones!"

"Ugh," said Jane. She noticed Maura was also making a face. "You didn't talk to him, did you?"

"Of course I did! I asked him how he's doing, and he said he's back in Boston now, working at that veteran place again. He looked really good. You can't even tell he was ever hurt." Charlotte started squirming, so Angela set her back down. "Why don't you want me to talk to him?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because he's the homophobic creep who you once hoped I would marry?"

"I didn't know you were a lesbian! How was I supposed to know if you didn't tell me? Anyway, I'm sure he's not really _that_ homophobic. He was just upset that you chose Maura over him."

"Ma, he was fine when I told him I found someone else. Then I said it was Maura and his whole demeanor changed."

Maura nodded vigorously. "And he wasn't very friendly to me at Jane's high school reunion, when I was pregnant. He told Jane she shouldn't bring a child into the world with me."

Angela looked down at her granddaughter in horror. "You never told me he said that! If I'd known…I always thought he was a respectful young man."

"He is, to people who think like him," Jane sighed. "Anyway, guess I'll stay away from that bagel place."

"My proof came today!" Maura told her mother-in-law excitedly, holding up the book.

"Oh, Maura! Look at that! You're a published author now!"

"Well, not quite yet. I have to review the proof for mistakes before the book can go to print."

"Well when it does, I want a signed copy. I gotta tell everyone my daughter-in-law is famous now!"

XXX

When she became a full Boston Police Academy instructor, Jane would get her own office. Nothing glamorous, of course, but it would still be hers. Right now she was just an intern, though, so all she had was a small desk in the corner of her supervisor's office. Her supervisor was Elmer Pinkerton, a retired cop who had to be at least ninety. On her first day he had chuckled at the sight of her and said, "We didn't have any girl cops when I started out." Surprisingly, she had developed a fondness for him since then. Yes, he had a tendency to tell the same stories over and over again, and he seemed twice as impressed by everything she did well because she was a "girl," but he was affable enough, and he kept bragging to people about his "bright young intern." Jane didn't really think the word "young" applied to her anymore, but she supposed she was compared to Pinkerton.

Jane's desk was pretty cramped, but she'd tried to personalize it anyway. She had three framed pictures lined up along the back of the desk: one of her and Maura at their wedding (a duplicate of the picture Hawthorne had stolen and mutilated), one of Jane and Maura with a three-month-old Charlotte at her baby blessing ceremony, and one of Charlotte covered in cake on her first birthday. She often looked at these pictures while she was in here grading papers or planning lessons, to remind herself of why she was sitting in a cramped office instead of out doing the job she loved. It might not be as exciting as chasing bad guys, but at least she went home every night to those two beautiful faces unharmed.

She was typing up notes for a lesson she wanted to teach when her phone buzzed with a call from Frankie.

"What is it?" she asked in annoyance when she answered. "I'm at work."

"Yeah, I know. Jane, you need to come in to BPD. Maura needs you."

Jane stood up. "What happened?"

"It's a body that turned up today. I told them not to call Maura, but there was a mix up and they called her anyway. So she wasn't supposed to see it, but…she saw it."

Jane charged out of her office without a word to Pinkerton. "Frankie, what was it? What wasn't she supposed to see?"

"We found another woman tied to a tree, but this one…this one's covered in tally marks."

Jane felt her heart drop down to her feet as she pushed open the door to the street. "What does she look like?" she asked, her mouth dry.

"Blonde. She…she looks a little like Maura, but younger."

Jane got into her car and peeled away from the curb. "How young?"

"College, maybe? About the same as the first one, but that one had dark hair."

"How is Maura taking it?"

"She kinda just turned pale when she saw it and didn't say anything. I had a uniform take her back to the station. She didn't argue."

"That's not a good sign. Are you still at the crime scene?"

"Yeah. I've got Kent coming out to look at the body. I just thought Maura would probably need you, after…I mean, obviously it's a copycat, but we need to figure out what it means. It's gotta be messing with her head."

"I get it. Listen, I'm almost there. Come find me when you're back at the station."

Jane parked on the street and ran inside to the elevators before realizing she couldn't operate them anymore, as she no longer had an ID. She went back to the security desk.

"Detective Rizzoli! What brings you back here?" said the officer at the desk, whose name Jane didn't remember.

"I need to see Dr. Isles. It's kind of urgent."

"I wasn't told about any expected visitors to the ME's office."

"I'm not expected, but I'm her wife. Just let me down there!"

"I'll call down to her office," he said.

Jane waited impatiently while he dialed her. After a minute, he hung up. "She's not answering. Maybe she stepped out."

"No, she should have just gotten back. Just let me go down. Something happened today, and—"

"Jane!" Nina stepped off the elevator and hurried towards her. "Frankie just called me."

"I'm trying to get down to see Maura. She's not answering her phone, and _he_ won't let me go down there."

"She's with me," Nina said hastily, pulling Jane onto the elevator.

"What do you know about this case?" Jane asked her as the doors closed.

"Not much yet, but Frankie sent me a picture. I wasn't here when you worked that case, but I've read the reports. It's going to create waves that it's coming back up."

"Obviously it's a copycat," said Jane, stepping off the elevator. "What we need to know is if this is just someone who read about the case in the news, or someone connected to the original killer."

"We're on it. I promise, Jane, this case will be a priority."

Jane nodded gratefully and cracked open the door to Maura's office. She could see her wife sitting at her desk, apparently doing nothing, though she looked up when the door opened.

"Jane," she said softly.

"Hey sweetie." Jane stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "Frankie called me. Are you okay?"

Maura looked at her, eyes slightly unfocused. "He's back," she said. "How can he be back? You said you killed him."

"I did," Jane promised. "He's not back. It's a copycat." She reached for Maura hesitantly, a bit surprised that Maura hadn't run straight to her arms. That was where Jane wanted her, where she knew she was safe.

"I…I got away," said Maura slowly. "Do you think…do you think he'll try to get me back? Because he wasn't done?"

 _Fuck_ , Jane thought. _She's not processing what I'm saying._ "No, baby." She lightly touched Maura's hair, and Maura turned at her touch as if just comprehending that Jane was there. She rose from her chair and tentatively reached for Jane, who gratefully pulled her into a hug. "You're safe," Jane promised her. "I'm here. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you."

"I can't go back there," whispered Maura, and then the tears started coming. Jane didn't know how to get her mind back in the present, to get her to think logically about the situation.

"You're not going back. Nothing is gonna happen to you, okay?" Jane's voice broke. Something had already happened. Whoever killed that woman and marked her had also attacked Maura, whether it was intentional or not.

Maura leaned against Jane, her whole body shaking. Jane guided her to the couch so they could sit together and just silently rubbed her back, trying to surround her with a feeling of safety, until she saw Frankie out in the hallway.

"Hey sweetie, I'm going to go talk to Frankie about the case for a minute, okay?"

Maura nodded absently, but when Jane stood up, Maura grabbed her hand. "Jane, no! Don't leave me!"

Jane felt like a knife was twisting in her heart. "Maura, honey, I'll just be right outside your door. You'll still be able to see me."

Maura looked through the window at Frankie and reluctantly let Jane go.

"I'll be right back," Jane promised, giving Maura a quick kiss on the head before going out to the hall.

"Hey," said Frankie. "How's she doing?"

"Bad. What can you tell me about the case? And don't give me that 'you don't work here anymore' shit. This concerns my wife's safety."

"Yeah, I get that. Here, I'll show you a picture of the body, and you can tell me what you notice." He pulled up the picture on his phone and she studied it.

"Well, she's tied to a tree, for starters. Nielson left his victims in dumpsters."

"Yeah. She was strangled, like his victims, but the tally marks are the only other similar thing. Take a closer look at those, though."

Jane enlarged the picture. At first glance, the tally marks cut into the victim's skin all over her chest, stomach, arms, and legs looked the same as what she'd seen before, but she quickly noticed the difference.

"They're all fresh," she said.

"Exactly. The victim matches the description of a woman who went missing only two days ago, and Kent thinks she's been dead close to 24 hours. The tally marks don't mean what they meant before."

"So maybe the guy heard about the case in the news and just wanted to copy that one grisly detail?" Jane suggested hopefully.

"Maybe. Or maybe he's trying to send some kind of message. Without knowing, I can't really say if he'd be a threat to Maura or not."

"Maybe he just doesn't have a place to hold victims for months at a time like Nielson did. If he tallied her because he wanted to tell us he has a connection to or admiration for Nielson, then there's a good chance he'll eventually target Maura. She's Nielson's only survivor."

"We'll have to take precautions to make sure she's safe."

Jane looked through the window into Maura's office and saw Maura sitting with her face in her hands. The knife in Jane's heart twisted again. "I made a mistake," she said quietly. "I thought if I left the force to teach at the Academy that it would make Maura and Charlotte safer. But she'd be safer right now if I was still a cop. I'd be able to stay with her, make sure no one gets close to her. I could help with the case. But as it is, I don't even have a gun anymore."

"Jane, it's okay. I'm still here, and Nina. We're not going to let anything happen."

"Well we're damn well going to have to be smarter than we were the last time. From now on, she doesn't drive out to any crime scenes alone, okay? She probably shouldn't go anywhere alone." She paused, running her fingers through her hair. This was going to be tricky to figure out. They could not, absolutely could _not_ , let this killer get his filthy hands on Maura. That much was certain. But there was a fine line between _protecting_ and _controlling_ , and Maura was going to become depressed if she felt like the very people she trusted were trying to take her independence away from her. "I hate this bastard," she muttered before turning and stomping back to Maura's office. She slowed her steps when she got inside and cautiously sat down next to Maura.

"Hey sweet girl," she said gently. "Why don't you let me take you home for the rest of the day? You've had a pretty bad scare."

Maura looked up, her eyes filled with agony. "I just…I thought it was over. It's been four years. I need it to be _over_."

"It _is_ over. This is a totally different guy, and he's not even doing things the same way. We don't really know what's going on yet, but I do know that nothing is gonna happen to you. We're not gonna let anyone get a chance to hurt you, okay?"

Maura nodded miserably.

"Come on, beautiful lady. Let's go home and rest for a bit."

"But Charlotte's home. I don't want her to see me like this."

"I'll call Ma and tell her to take Charlotte to the park for a while. That'll give you some time to yourself, to do whatever you need to do to feel better. Maybe call Melanie, if you want."

Maura nodded. "I should call her. But what I really need right now is you."

"Well I'm not going anywhere."

Jane went to get Maura's purse from her desk and saw the proof of her book sitting out. Her heart seized as she remembered Maura's excitement this morning. She hoped Maura could recapture that feeling once she had time to get past the shock of what she'd seen today.

Maura clung to Jane's arm on the way out of the building. Jane asked Frankie to find a way to get Maura's car home and called Angela to ask her to get Charlotte out of the house for a while. She hoped Maura would feel better once she was in the comfort of her own home, where at least she would know she was safe.

Maura was silent in the car. Jane mulled over what she knew so far, trying to figure out what she could say to make Maura feel better. "It's not the same as before," she said finally. "She got all her tally marks at once. He only had her for a day, and he couldn't possibly have raped her that many times in one day. So the marks are meaningless."

Maura looked at her, eyes more alert and focused now. "Were they done ante or postmortem?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll find out when Kent does the autopsy."

She could see the wheels turning in Maura's head. "So why would he have cut tally marks into her skin if they didn't mean anything? Was he trying to get our attention?"

"I don't know. He might have just read about the case and wanted to imitate it."

"Would the tally marks have seemed significant to him if he didn't know what they meant?"

"Maybe, I mean it was fucking creepy, so that detail certainly would have stood out to anyone reading about the case." Jane tried to remember what the newspapers had said about Nielson's murders. "The press knew about the tally marks, but they didn't know what they meant. We never released that information, and we didn't tell them how many marks each victim had, so they had no way to figure it out. Also, they reported your kidnapping, but we were pretty tight-lipped about it, so all they really said was that you were abducted, but we got you back safely. We never told them what happened to you, and there was never a trial because I killed him."

"So who _would_ know what the marks meant, or what happened to me?"

"No one except people who have access to the police reports, and possibly someone connected to Nielson."

"But since the tally marks were all done in a 24-hour period, and therefore are not a real tally, there's a very good chance this is just a copycat who doesn't know what he's doing."

"Yes. And if that's true, you're not very likely to become a target." Jane felt her stomach unclench a little. "I still think we should take precautions, though. You should always make sure Frankie or Nina or someone you trust is with you when you go to a crime scene. And when you go to work, park on the street, not in the garage."

Maura nodded. "If it's the same man who left the other victim tied to a tree, he's very smart. We never found even a trace of him at the crime scene."

"Smart doesn't mean he knows a lot about the case though." Jane pulled into the garage, noting that Charlotte's stroller was gone. Angela had already left with her.

"We just need to know more about him, so we can know if he's a threat to us or not."

"Us?"

"Yes, us. You and I are the last two people he kidnapped. We both got away alive."

"I'm not sure I count. I chose to let him kidnap me."

"It may not count to you, but it'll count to anyone who's trying to finish what he started. If things had gone according to his plan, we both would be dead by now. But they didn't, because you killed him. You are just as much as risk as I am."

"Maybe," agreed Jane, letting them into the house.

"I'm going to help with the case," Maura said decisively. "Regardless of what's motivating this man, I want to help catch him. I'm not going to step down just because it's hitting too close to home."

Jane turned to face her. "Are you sure? You might be forced to relive some pretty awful memories. I don't like you having to do that."

"I'm sure. I'm already reliving it anyway, thanks to what I saw this morning. I'll feel better if I can _do_ something about it."

Jane nodded. She'd probably feel more comfortable if Maura stayed off this case, but she knew she wouldn't want to either. Every time a case related to Hoyt had come up, Jane had always been determined to solve it, even though everyone around her thought she was crazy.

"Well, you can start tomorrow," she said. "Today you rest."

Maura nodded and her eyes filled with tears again. "I'm just so _tired_."

"So we'll lie down." Jane took her wife's hand and led her upstairs to their bedroom. Maura got into bed and curled up amongst the silk pillows. Jane curled her body protectively around Maura's and closed her eyes. Whatever the perp was planning, Jane vowed to herself, there was no chance in hell that he was going to touch her wife.


	5. Chapter 5

**This is a really sad chapter, which I apologize for. It was very difficult to write! But we're only a couple chapters away from something very very good happening, so hang in there!**

Chapter 5

Maura's head was spinning when she walked into the conference room. She and Kent were meeting with Frankie and several other detectives to go over what they had learned so far about the copycat case and to compare it to the original case. Jane was also there. Frankie had talked Cavanaugh into hiring her as a consultant since she had worked the original case and had been the one to bring down the killer. Maura was relieved to have Jane there for this, not just for support, but so she could keep an eye on her. She was very, very afraid that something bad was happening.

In the two weeks since the body with tally marks had been found, their lives had been upended again when Jane got a positive pregnancy test. Coming at such a stressful time, the news was difficult to fully comprehend, and now Maura feared their happiness would be short-lived. Jane had told Maura this morning that she didn't feel right somehow.

"I don't really feel pregnant today," she had said.

"What do you mean?" asked Maura, her heart speeding up.

"I don't feel like puking. My boobs aren't as sore. I kind of feel…normal. Is that bad?"

"Not necessarily," Maura had told her, even though she felt cold inside. "It might not mean anything. We just have to wait and see."

It was true that they could only wait and see. If Jane didn't "feel pregnant" anymore because the embryo had died and her body was ceasing the production of pregnancy hormones, there was nothing they could do but wait for her body to expel it. If nothing was wrong, that would become apparent over time as well. All they could do was go about their day and see what happened.

Maura eyed her wife as they sat down across from each other at the conference table. She seemed all right at the moment, anyway. She looked eager to help with the case, and Maura knew she was happy that they were letting her be part of this.

Maura's gaze fell past Jane to the display board behind her, which someone had wheeled in from the squad room. Most of it consisted of pictures and information about the two new victims, but off to the side were pictures of the three victims from the original case. There was something missing, of course. No one had dared to add Maura's picture, knowing that she would be looking at the board, but the empty space where she should have been spoke volumes. Maura took in a deep breath, telling herself she could do this. She had to.

"All right," said Frankie, clearing his throat. It was his first time leading a meeting like this, and Maura could tell he was nervous. "Let's start by going over the new cases. Nina, could you—"

"Of course." Nina was sitting near the Smart Board with her laptop. She brought up a picture of the first victim, a young woman with dark hair who was tied to a tree, naked, but with no tally marks. "This is Madison Taylor, a 20-year-old BCU student. She was found March fourth, tied to a tree near the banks of the Charles River. The autopsy showed that she had been sexually assaulted and then strangled before being tied to the tree. We believe she was killed in a different location. We have no forensic evidence from the killer himself."

"Didn't you get his DNA from the rape kit?" asked Perez, a relatively young detective who had recently moved to Homicide. They were adding more people to the case in the hopes of solving it faster, so some of the cops present knew little about either case.

"It appears that he used a condom," Maura told him. "He seemed to be very conscious about not leaving DNA behind. We found no skin cells under her fingernails either, although the bruising patterns indicate that she was conscious at the time of her assault."

Jane cleared her throat. "It's also significant that he killed her in one location, then brought her to the park and tied her to a tree. That isn't a normal way to dispose of a body. It's like he was putting her on display. He _wanted_ her to be found."

"Our second victim is Nicole Lavoie, age 23," said Nina, bringing up another picture on the screen. "She was also found tied to a tree, this time on the banks of the Charles River. The autopsy showed that she had also been sexually assaulted and strangled, just like the first victim, with the obvious difference that she also had hundreds of tally marks carved into her skin."

"725," Kent interjected. "They were all done postmortem. But, as with the first victim, we were unable to recover any of the killer's DNA."

"And what do the marks mean?" asked Perez, who was clearly stunned.

"We'll get to that in a minute," said Frankie. "I do want to mention that we _have_ found a connection between the victims. They didn't know each other, but they did live within a half-mile radius of one another, and they were both last seen leaving their homes on foot. Madison's roommate says she last saw her walking to the bus stop a couple blocks from their house, though all reports say she never made it on the bus or to class that day. Nicole's boyfriend says she goes jogging at the same time every day, and one day she never came back."

Maura found this encouraging. Before there had been no connection between the victims, which was one of the reasons they had been unable to identify the killer.

"So I assume you canvassed the neighborhood?" asked Murphy, a seasoned detective who was Perez's new partner.

"Yes," said Frankie. "We've been all over the neighborhood interviewing people, taking down names, running everyone through the system. No one's seen anything, and so far, we haven't found anyone in the neighborhood with a history of violent crime. It's still likely the perp lives nearby though. It's just someone who hasn't been convicted of anything. We're specifically looking at people who live along the path Madison would have walked on her way to the bus stop. We can cross a few people off our list. A lesbian couple, an old man who can barely walk, a woman living alone, and a single mom with her kids. She does have a teenage son, but it's unlikely someone that young would be able to pull off two murders without leaving any evidence behind. Every other house on the street has at least one able-bodied man living in it, and we have to consider them all to be suspects."

"We also have to consider the possibility that the perp doesn't live in the neighborhood, but frequently visits," Jane pointed out. "It could be a friend or relative or boyfriend of someone who lives there. It could be someone who mows somebody's lawn. It could be the mailman, for all we know."

"One thing worth noting is that we found no evidence in autopsy that either victim was drugged," said Maura. "But as far as we know, both were taken in broad daylight, while walking or jogging through the neighborhood, and none of the neighbors noticed anything out of the ordinary."

Jane nodded. "Which does imply that both women knew their attackers, or at least recognized them. That would have made it possible to lure them to a car, a house, a backyard."

"That fits with the neighbor or frequent visitor theory," said Frankie. "We have a lot more to go on right now than we did the last time. Last time we had no idea where the killer was because he was hunting all over the city."

"He had a very specific physical type," said Maura, feeling keenly aware of her own resemblance to the three dead women on the display board. "He would have had trouble finding enough women of that specific type if he only hunted in one neighborhood. We never knew for sure how he found his victims, but he targeted each one well in advance, while the new unsub is most likely seizing opportunities when they arise. He also seems less particular about the appearance of his victims, but they are both Caucasian females in their early twenties, so he does have some preference." _Hopefully that means he wouldn't be interested in a forty-year-old._

"Can we hear more about the old case now?" asked Perez. "Why did he put tally marks on them?"

Nina brought up pictures of the dead bodies of Kelly Bruin, Jennifer O'Malley, and Rebecca Laurent. "These are the women Jared Nielson killed between September 2012 and March 2013. He actually abducted the first victim in June of 2012, but he held her captive for three months, during which time he raped her 271 times and carved a tally mark in her skin for each rape. Then he strangled her and left her body in a dumpster. A few days later, he abducted his second victim, whom he kept for two months before killing her and disposing of her in the same way. He held the third victim for four months."

Nina opened an article Maura had never seen that explained that police had identified and fatally shot the killer they'd been looking for the past six months. His driver's license photo was attached to the article, and Maura quickly looked down, trying to erase the image from her mind. She'd never been able to remember his face, which she knew was just her mind trying to protect itself, trying to prevent this one detail from haunting her dreams. In her memories, she could only see his outline looming over her while she lay helpless in the bed she was chained to. She could feel his big, rough hands on her, could hear his loud, excited breathing. Occasionally he spoke, but not often, and he almost never responded to her when she spoke to him. She tried to reason with him in the beginning, but he just went on as if he hadn't heard her, continuing to treat her like the inanimate possession he was turning her into. After a while she began to wonder if she was really speaking after all.

"And you couldn't get DNA on him, like the new guy?" Detective Murphy was asking when Maura pulled her brain back into the meeting. Jane was looking at her, clearly worried, but Maura just gave her a reassuring smile.

"We had his DNA," said Maura quietly. "We just didn't have anyone to match it to." She felt dirty thinking about it, although she told herself it was illogical. She'd been right to feel that way at the time, but every bit of himself that he'd left on or in her was long gone now. Even the skin he'd touched was gone, as her skin cells would have replaced themselves many times since then. She couldn't possibly be dirty now from something that happened four years ago.

"So how did you finally get him?" asked Perez.

"He finally made a mistake," said Jane. "He took the chief medical examiner. We think he just got cocky. He probably saw her picture in the paper, noticed she was his type, and thought, 'I bet I could get away with taking someone who works with the police.' He thought he was that good. After he took her, he found out her girlfriend was one of the detectives investigating the case, and he worked out what he thought was a foolproof plan to get me too. But I overpowered him as soon as he got me to his house, and then I killed him."

"The new perp doesn't hold his victims for long though," said Frankie. "He's had each one less than a day, and he obviously didn't rape Nicole 725 times in one day. Our working theory is that he read something about the case in the media, which never reported the meaning of the marks, and he just thought it was interesting somehow and wanted to imitate it."

"We're hoping that's it," said Jane. "Otherwise, we could be dealing with someone who is actually trying to fuck with Dr. Isles. Or with me. Or both of us."

"Which is why it's so urgent to find the guy," said Frankie.

Maura was struggling to keep her mind in the present. She kept thinking about the small bedroom she'd been kept in, how she kept looking at the doorway and telling herself Jane would be coming through there soon. She'd tried hard to push away the logical voice that told her Jane had already spent the past six months trying desperately to find this man without any luck. She had to believe Jane would find her, that she'd be coming any time. And when she did come Maura would throw her arms around her. She tried to imagine it, how it would feel to hold Jane again. They would be so happy to see each other. Sometimes when she was just regaining consciousness after another ketamine injection she would see Jane coming into the room and would reach for her, but wouldn't be able to touch her.

Then one day she had a long enough break in between injections that she was able to think with some clarity, and it occurred to her to look at this imagined rescue from Jane's point of view. She wasn't sure how long she had been there, but she knew the number of tally marks on the other victims had exceeded the number of days they spent in captivity, and she was up to five tally marks, so she must have been there for fewer than five days. Perhaps this was only her second day here? She didn't know, but she did know that she was a wreck. If Jane did come for her, she would find a woman who had been completely dehumanized. She was chained to a bed. She had no clothing. Her wrist was badly swollen where it had been broken. Her vagina felt like a war zone, not like something that would ever bring her and Jane pleasure again. She realized with a sinking feeling that when Jane did find her, when she saw the way she'd been used, she might not even _want_ her anymore. When he came back to her room, she didn't bother to fight him this time. She just turned her head away and waited for the injection. He said he would have a surprise for her when she woke up, but she didn't want to know what it was. She couldn't have imagined that the surprise would be Jane finally walking through the door, or that she would sleep through it.

"Maura."

She looked up to see that Jane had come around the table and was standing next to her.

"Let's take a break," Jane said quietly. Maura looked around the room. Everyone was looking at their notes or the Smart Board, except for Kent, who was looking at her with some concern. Nina had apparently left.

"Okay," she said, getting up and following Jane to the break room.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Jane told her when they were alone.

"Yes I do. And I'm really okay. What about you? How are you feeling?"

Jane sighed. "I'm cramping a little, like my period's about to start. But pregnant women cramp sometimes, right?"

Maura nodded. "Have you been spotting?"

"Not last I checked. Did any of this happen to you when you were pregnant?" She looked so worried, and Maura wanted to tell her it was going to be okay, but she couldn't. She didn't know.

"I had some occasional mild cramping early on," Maura admitted. "But I never stopped feeling pregnant, almost from implantation. I felt tired and emotional, my breasts were extremely sore, and I was nauseous all day. I don't think there was a single day in the first trimester when I didn't throw up."

"Yeah, you were puking a lot," Jane agreed. "I remember trying to follow you to the bathroom every time so I could hold your hair back. It seemed like the least I could do. But it was kind of hard to keep up." She blinked back tears. "I just don't feel it today. I feel normal, like I just woke up and there wasn't a baby anymore. Do you think that's what happened?"

Maura took Jane's hands and squeezed them. "Every pregnancy is different," she said. "But I know that we did everything right, so if something goes wrong now, it won't be our fault. Sometimes the embryo seems viable at first, but it isn't. Sometimes you don't know until later."

A single tear trickled down Jane's face. "I want this baby," she whispered.

Maura lifted Jane's hand to her lips. "I do too."

The door opened and Nina came into the break room with her laptop, Frankie right behind her.

"There you are," she said. "There's something I need to show you, before we show it to everyone in there. It might be a bit of a game changer."

 _Oh no_. Maura didn't think she could take any more bad news right now, but she braced herself, keeping Jane's hand in hers.

"Apparently this article appeared on the _Boston Globe_ website this morning," Nine explained. "I just got off the phone with the editor, and they're taking it down. They said they have no idea where it came from. I saved it so you can see." She turned the laptop towards them, and Maura was surprised to see her own face, a picture of her that had been taken at a charity dinner about two years ago. She had been wearing a low-cut dress, and someone had drawn a circle on the picture around what showed of her faded tally mark scars. Next to the picture was a headline:

HER OWN PRIVATE HELL

 _The untold story of chief medical examiner Maura Isles' abduction and rape at the hands of a serial killer_

by Hatchery Sol

Maura involuntarily let out a soft cry. How could they be telling her story? She certainly hadn't spoken to anyone at the _Boston Globe_.

"Who the hell is Hatchery Sol?" Jane demanded. "That's not even a name."

"It's not a real person," said Nina. "Just read the article."

Maura skimmed the article, her alarm growing with each paragraph. It described, in detail, how she was kidnapped and what was done to her. It also described Jane's rescue, but somehow managed to phrase it in a way that made it sound like Jane was marginally helpful in Frost, Korsak, and Frankie's rescue of Maura, rather than painting Jane as the hero, which was certainly Maura's understanding of what happened.

"How many people have seen this article?" Maura asked, dreading the answer.

"I don't know," Nina said. "It was only up for a few hours, so hopefully not too many people. The big question is, who wrote this, and how did they get all the information?"

"All of it was in the report," Jane pointed out. "That article is practically like reading the report. Which means either this was put up by someone who has access to BPD's files, or this person managed to hack into the system."

"Well, they had to hack into the _Boston Globe_ site in order to put this up, so it's possible," Nina said. "I'll look into it. If they did hack our system, maybe I can trace them."

"Do you think the person who put this up is the same one who killed our two victims?" Frankie asked.

"It's too much of a coincidence not to be connected," Jane said with a sigh. "This answers our question about whether this person is deliberately fucking with us."

"It raises about a million other questions though," Frankie said, shaking his head. Jane suddenly leaned forwards, putting her hand on her abdomen. "You okay?" Frankie asked her.

"Yeah. I'm just…I think I'd better go to the bathroom." She rushed off and Maura hurried after her.

Maura stood by the bathroom mirror while Jane locked herself in a stall. Her head was spinning even faster than before. Of course a lot of people in her life knew exactly what had happened to her, but there had been some people she hadn't wanted to tell, like her family. She was afraid of how they might react if they saw or heard about the article. Worse still was the confirmation that someone was, in fact, trying to send her a message by tallying Nicole Lavoie's body, someone who knew far more about her than he should.

And none of that even seemed important when she heard Jane scream her name from the bathroom stall.

XXX

Maura moved as quietly as she could up the stairs, carrying the heated rice pillow for Jane. Her cramping had become more severe, the bleeding heavier. Angela had promised to stay for the night, for as long as they needed her, so she and Maura could take turns caring for Charlotte and Jane. They had explained to Charlotte that Mama was sick right now.

Maura had taken Jane to Dr. Kessler as soon as Jane realized she was bleeding. Dr. Kessler had only been able to confirm what they already knew: Jane was having a miscarriage. There wasn't anything they could do about it. They canceled Jane's appointment for the following week, what would have been her first checkup of the pregnancy, and Maura took her home. They'd had to tell Angela the news, both that Jane had been pregnant and that she wasn't anymore. Maura wasn't sure which was worse: knowing they weren't having a baby after all, or seeing her wife in so much pain.

When she got to the bedroom with the heated pillow, she found Jane curled into the smallest ball she could get herself in on the bed. She didn't look up as Maura approached.

"Jane, I have the rice pillow," Maura said softly. Jane lifted her head and lowered her legs a bit, allowing Maura to gently place the pillow on her abdomen. "Is it still hurting pretty badly?"

Jane nodded, and Maura went into the bathroom, returning a moment later with painkillers and a glass of water.

"Here." She gently tugged Jane onto the pillows, so she would be upright enough to swallow the water without choking, and gave her the pills. "These will lessen the pain, and maybe help you sleep," she told her, moving a few curls out of Jane's face. She could still see tears falling, and it made fresh tears spring to her own eyes. They had both cried at Dr. Kessler's office when their fears had been confirmed, but Maura had had to get it under control so she could drive home and so she could explain what was going on to Angela. She didn't think Jane had stopped though. "I'm so sorry, Jane," she whispered, threading her fingers through Jane's hair.

"Why are you sorry?" Jane asked hoarsely. "I should be. I couldn't keep your baby alive."

" _Our_ baby, and it's not your fault. You were taking care of yourself the way you were supposed to. You weren't smoking. You weren't drinking caffeine. You're very healthy. This is most likely happening because the embryo had a chromosomal anomaly and couldn't have survived. That just happens sometimes, more often than you might think. It isn't anyone's fault, and the fact that it happened this time doesn't mean it'll happen again." Her face crumpled as a horrible thought struck her. "Maybe my eggs aren't good," she said, her voice breaking. "Maybe I did this to you."

"Oh, Maura, no. I refuse to believe that you're making bad eggs."

Maura took a few breaths to calm herself a little. "Well, I refuse to believe that you couldn't keep our baby alive. Of course you could, if it was a healthy embryo. But when it isn't, it's better to lose it early. It's better that we didn't have more time to get excited, to start making plans."

"Yeah, I guess. I just really want to have your baby. I want to see what that baby would be like. One that came from you." She looked at Maura, her eyes full of pain.

Maura climbed onto the bed beside Jane, pulling her into her arms. "You will," she promised. "You got pregnant the second try. That's pretty good. It'll work again, and next time it'll be healthy." She certainly hoped she was right about that. They couldn't go through this again.

Jane rested her head on Maura's chest. "Today ranks pretty high up on my list of worst days ever."

"Today sucked," Maura agreed, stroking Jane's hair.

"How are you doing with that whole article business?"

"I'm not even thinking about that anymore. I'm just sad about the baby, and sad that you're in pain."

"What was the name on the article again?"

"Hatchery Sol."

"That's right. We gotta figure out what that means."

"Maybe it's an anagram."

"It probably is. Serial killers love that shit, for some stupid reason." Jane's eyes started to close, but she forced them back open. "How long am I going to…bleed like this?"

"Since it's early, probably for about a week, maybe a little longer. It'll be like having an unusually bad period."

"Will we know when the baby comes out?"

"No. It's too tiny."

"Good. I'd rather not…see it."

Maura closed her eyes sadly, thinking about the tiny little embryo that would already have been starting to form its organs, its arm and leg buds. They would never know now who it would have been.

"We'll try again," Jane promised before she fell asleep. "I'm still going to have your baby."

"I know you will." Maura kissed the top of Jane's head and listened to her breathing even out as sleep overtook her. She rested her cheek on Jane's head and wished it would take her too.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jane sipped her beer, looking gratefully at her mother. She wasn't sure she and Maura could have gotten through the past two weeks without her. The bleeding and cramping had stopped now, and Jane felt physically normal. She and Maura had resumed their usual activities. The baby was officially lost. Logically, Jane understood that the miscarriage probably happened because the baby couldn't live. And she knew they were really very lucky, because they already had a beautiful, healthy child. But still, it _hurt_. She couldn't stop thinking of the baby as a little Maura, a little piece of Maura, and it had died. She was supposed to keep it alive, but it died. It made her sad in ways she couldn't articulate.

Her mother and Maura had both taken good care of her though, especially in the beginning, when she was too sad to even lift her head. Angela was still hanging around a lot, mostly for emotional support now. She knew how Jane felt, and Jane had learned something new about her mother: Angela had had a miscarriage once herself, about a year before Jane was born. So Jane hadn't been her mother's first pregnancy after all. There had been four, not three.

"So after you lost that baby," Jane asked out of nowhere, "how long after that did you get pregnant with me?"

Angela looked up from the cookie dough she was rolling out. They were in Jane and Maura's kitchen, where Angela had been baking nearly every day since the miscarriage. It was a Saturday afternoon. Charlotte was upstairs taking her nap, though Jane could see her on the little video baby monitor. Maura was in the backyard with Diana, some lady she'd met at her fencing tournaments. They didn't even belong to the same fencing club, but Diana had asked Maura to help her improve her techniques, and Maura, always eager to help, had invited her over.

"I guess it would have been about five months after the miscarriage when I got pregnant with you," Angela replied. "I remember, when I first got pregnant, I bought one of those books that tells you week by week what happens during pregnancy. It had these little drawings of what the baby would look like in there. I was on week nine when I lost it." She abandoned the cookie dough and sat down at the table with Jane. "I don't really know why I tortured myself, but I kept reading that book even after I lost the baby. Every week I would look and see how big it would be, what it would be doing. I was at seven months when I found out I was pregnant again, so then I had to start over! But this time I got through the book, and at the end I had you. And I wouldn't trade you for anything."

"Don't you wonder what that baby would have been like?"

"Of course! Sometimes I still wonder. And it still makes me sad when I think about the miscarriage, but not like it used to. I stopped wishing it never happened a long time ago. I wouldn't wish you away. I think you were the baby I was meant to have anyway."

Jane nodded, tears stinging her eyes. "I think the only thing that will make me feel better is actually having a baby. At least when I do, I can say that I wouldn't have that one if I hadn't lost this one, you know?"

Angela put her hand on Jane's. "I'm sure you will have a baby. But even if you don't, you still have two things I didn't have when I was in your shoes: a sweet little daughter, and a spouse who understands how you feel. I went from being an expectant mother to just nothing, and your father didn't get what the big deal was."

"I'm sorry, Ma. I'm sorry you had to be married to such a jerk."

"I don't regret it. But I'm glad you married better."

"Yeah, at least I didn't marry Casey Jones."

Angela chuckled. "I think you made the right choice by getting a wife instead of a husband."

"You're not unhappy with Ron, are you?"

"No, but I think we were happier when we weren't living together. He drives me nuts sometimes. He wants to talk to me nonstop when we're home. I can't get a moment's peace. It's like having kids again!"

"Well, if you decide you want to go back to the way things were, we still have that 'au pair suite' in the basement."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I thought you wanted me to move out so you and Maura could be on your own like a normal couple."

Jane shrugged. "You living in the guest house sort of became our normal." She bit her lip, not wanting to admit she missed having her mother around. "Plus Maura just loved having you with us. She finally had the kind of mom she always wanted. And we all know she's your favorite kid, even if she is just your daughter-in-law."

Angela laughed, standing up from the table and returning to the kitchen island. "That's not true. But she really is a delight to have in the family." She began cutting the cookie dough. "Speaking of Maura, how is she doing with that article and everything? It seems like a lot hit you girls at once."

"Yeah," Jane sighed. "She's been more focused on the miscarriage, but I know it's bothering her. Fortunately, Constance and Arthur don't follow the news in Boston too closely, so they haven't heard about it. Maura really doesn't want them to know, for whatever reason. But Hope called the day after it ran saying Cailin had shown it to her, and she sounded pissed."

Angela nodded, arranging the cookies on a tray. "It was a horrible invasion of Maura's privacy."

"No, she wasn't pissed at whoever put the article out there. She was upset with _Maura_ for not telling her about the kidnapping and everything that happened. They were barely speaking at the time, but they've gotten closer since Charlotte came along, and she thought this was something Maura would have told her about."

Angela looked stunned. "Well, as a mother I can understand her feeling hurt that her daughter didn't confide in her. But to take that hurt out on Maura, after everything she's been through…" She shook her head, putting the cookie tray in the oven. "Those two have a very complicated relationship."

"Yeah. But she's been an amazing mother to Charlotte in spite of never having an amazing mom of her own."

"You both are. Charlotte's lucky to have you both." Angela started looking through the fridge, pulling out ingredients for dinner. "Are you any closer to finding out who wrote that article?"

"Nina says there was a breach in the system, meaning someone hacked into the BPD files, but she hasn't been able to trace them. That's the problem with good hackers. We've considered the possibility that it could be an inside job, which would also make sense with the killings. A police officer could easily get people to trust him. We saw that with Officer Hawthorne, when he got people to let him into their homes so he could kill them. All he had to do was flash his badge. But an officer could have gotten the report on what happened to Maura without hacking into the system, so…at least we figured out what 'Hatchery Sol' means though. It's an anagram for 'Charles Hoyt.'"

Angela paled. "Why would they use that name?"

"We're not positive yet, but we doubt this person is affiliated with Nielson or Hoyt. They're just sending some sort of message." She heaved a sigh. "It is kinda hard to ignore the serial-killers-who-are-dead-because-of-me theme, though."

"And you're back in the middle of things with this investigation."

"I'm just consulting, Ma. I'm not doing anything dangerous." She gave her mother a pleading look. "I had to help, okay? I can't let Maura get hurt again."

Angela nodded in resignation. "Neither of you can afford to get hurt. My granddaughter needs her mommies."

Jane looked at the little baby monitor screen, where she could see Charlotte turning over in her sleep. She was positioned almost like she was running, as if preparing herself for takeoff the second she woke up. Jane smiled to herself, wondering how she could ever have thought the kid wasn't getting anything from her. She got up and went to the window overlooking the expansive backyard. Maura and Diana were out there in full fencing gear, minus the electric stuff they wore during tournaments, and Maura was instructing Diana on how to hold her arm while doing some sort of thrust or something. _Leave it to Maura to volunteer to help her opponent get better_ , Jane thought. She watched Maura's movements—graceful, encouraging, yet fierce in her own way—and wondered what her biological child would be like. She hoped she wouldn't have to wait too long to find out.

She returned to the table and saw Charlotte waking up on the monitor, pushing herself into a sitting position. "Oh no, she's up," she said, dashing to the stairs. If no one showed up in what Charlotte considering to be a reasonable period of time, which wasn't very long, she would try to climb out of the crib on her own. Jane hurried up the back stairs, climbing over the baby gate at the bottom and then another at the top. Maura could unlatch the gates and swing them open with no problem, but it never worked for Jane. Once upstairs, she ran down the hall to Charlotte's beautiful nursery. Jane thought it looked like something out of a storybook. It was a large bedroom with a fireplace, and Maura had hired an artist to paint trees on the walls against a sky blue background, which looked perfect next to her hand painted Beatrix Potter furniture.

Charlotte pulled herself into a standing position when she saw Jane. "Mama," she said happily, easily melting Jane's heart.

"Hey Princess." Jane lifted her out of the crib. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mm hm." Charlotte leaned sleepily against Jane, who wrapped her arms tightly around the toddler and breathed in the smell of her baby shampoo. This was one of the few times when Charlotte would consent to being held for longer than a minute, and Jane always tried to savor it.

"Let's get a clean diaper on you before we go downstairs," Jane murmured into her daughter's hair. "Grandma's down there baking cookies again, and Mommy's outside fencing with her friend." She carried Charlotte to her changing table, got her into a dry diaper, straightened out her clothes, and took her downstairs.

"Look, the cookies are ready," Jane said to Charlotte as she carried her into the kitchen.

Angela handed a cookie to her granddaughter with a smile. "That's all you get for now," she told her. "I'll have supper ready soon."

Charlotte happily bit into her cookie as Jane grabbed one for herself.

"I was a little surprised to hear you calling her 'Princess,'" Angela remarked.

Jane frowned. "How did you hear that?"

"Monitor's still on."

"Oh. Yeah." Jane walked over and switched off the baby monitor. "Well, she _is_ a princess. Her Mommy's a queen."

" _You_ never wanted to be a princess. My friends all got to make their daughters these cute little princess dresses for Halloween, but what did you want to be? A cop. A Ghostbuster. The Karate Kid."

"I liked Princess Leia," Jane pointed out.

Angela laughed her deep, throaty laugh. "That's true. You used to run around the house wearing earmuffs and pretending to shoot people with a hair dryer."

"Exactly. That's the kind of princess I'm thinking of when I call Charlotte that. I mean, what other kind would she be? Her mommy drives a motorcycle and sword fights."

"And her other mom is _you_."

Charlotte finished her cookie and wriggled to get down. "Do you want to go outside and see Mommy?" Jane asked her.

"Yeah!" Charlotte went running for the back door, but Jane intercepted her. "Wait, we need to get your shoes and your little sabre so you don't try to grab Mommy's."

A few minutes later, they were making their way across the backyard, Charlotte proudly bearing her little foam sabre. Maura waved when she saw them and continued with her fencing. Jane didn't know much about the sport, but she could tell Maura was doing much better than Diana, and she felt a surge of pride. Charlotte wanted desperately to join in, so Jane grabbed a stick off the ground, knelt down, and started "fencing" with the toddler. Fortunately, Charlotte thought the whole point was to hit your opponent's "sword" with your own. Jane hoped it would be a while before she learned otherwise.

"That is the cutest thing I have ever seen!" Diana exclaimed when she and Maura finally called it quits and pulled off their masks. "I didn't know you could get little toy sabres like that!"

"I got it from the same place I get my equipment from," Maura said, smiling proudly. "She's always trying to get her hands on my sabre, so I thought she should have her own."

"She wants to be just like her incredible Mommy." Jane stood up. "Are you staying for dinner?" she asked Diana. "My mom's cooking spaghetti. It's nothing fancy, but her sauce is really good."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose," said Diana.

"It's not an imposition!" Maura insisted. "My mother-in-law tends to cook enough for an army even when there are only a few people eating!"

"Well, Gary _is_ out with friends tonight," Diana considered. "I was just going to eat leftovers, but home-cooked spaghetti sounds awfully tempting."

"I'll set a place for you then," said Jane.

Diana started gushing about their house and everything in it the moment she walked in. Jane doubted she could actually be that impressed, since she lived out in Wellesley and belonged to a fencing club even fancier than Maura's, so she assumed she was the sort of person who thought it was polite to pretend to be impressed all the time. Even when they all sat down to dinner and Charlotte began unceremoniously grabbing fistfuls of spaghetti and stuffing them more or less in her mouth, Diana went on about how _adorable_ she was. Jane had to wonder if she actually thought there was something cute about a toddler making a mess of herself, or if she wondered why the hell they even had the baby eating with them. It was Jane's understanding that Maura had rarely been allowed to eat dinner with adults when she was little, that people of her parents' stature usually had the nanny feed small children in a separate part of the house. As much as Jane got culture shock from things like baby outfits that cost over a hundred dollars, she had to remind herself that Maura was actually raising the kid in a much more down-to-Earth environment than she had grown up in.

"Now, she looks just like Jane," Diana remarked, watching Charlotte smear spaghetti sauce all over her face. "Is Jane the one that had her?"

"Jane's the biological mother, but I was actually the one who was pregnant with her, through in vitro fertilization," Maura explained.

"Oh, how cool is that? So you made it where she really is both of yours."

"She would have been anyway," said Jane. "But it was kind of cool to do it that way." She didn't bring up that they were trying to do it the opposite way now. That was still a bit painful to talk about.

"Gary and I thought about having kids, but there was always something we wanted to do first, you know? Now we've been married over twenty years and it's too late. It's just too late. I'm 45 now."

"You could adopt an older child," Maura suggested.

"Oh, Gary would never go for that. It's probably for the best anyway. I don't know what kind of mom I'd make. How long have you two been married?"

"Wednesday was our third anniversary," said Maura with a smile.

"Oh, that's why you two are so lovey-dovey. You're practically newlyweds! When you've been married as long as I have, it's just not the same anymore. The other person is just sort of there, you know?"

Maura's eyes met Jane's, and Jane smiled at her. There was no need to rub it in, but Jane was confident that Maura would never be "just sort of there" to her.

"Oh, Jane and Maura have a special bond," said Angela. "What they have is rare."

"What's really rare is Maura having such a great relationship with her mother-in-law! Mine would barely look at me when she was alive. I thought that was normal."

"I'm very lucky to have Angela as my mother-in-law," Maura said fondly.

"I'm lucky to have _two_ wonderful daughters-in-law," beamed Angela. "Well, soon to be two. My son is getting married in November to a lovely woman. And hopefully they'll give me grandchildren soon after that!"

"Geez, Ma, how many do you need?"

"As many as I can get!"

At that point, Charlotte decided to signal she was finished with her spaghetti by shoving the bowl onto the hardwood floor and yelling "Dow!" Maura got up to wipe her face and hands.

"Yeah, we can't possibly have enough family members who do _that_ sort of thing," Jane joked.

"It's probably moments like this when you wonder if you should have had a baby, huh?" Diana laughed.

"No, not really," said Jane. "I knew what I was getting into."

Maura sat back down with Charlotte in her arms, looking slightly affronted. She discreetly reached up her shirt to unfasten her nursing bra and give Charlotte access to her nipple, which she'd gotten good at doing without exposing herself. Charlotte settled down to drink, and Maura resumed eating.

"She looks like she's in Heaven," Diana observed. "I didn't know they still did that once they were walking and stuff."

"Some mothers only nurse for the first year," Maura said. "But the World Health Organization recommends nursing for at least the first two years."

"Oh yeah, you're a doctor, aren't you?"

"I am, but I don't normally work with live patients. I'm the chief medical examiner of the Commonwealth."

"Medical examiner? So you do autopsies?"

"Yes."

"And you're the boss of all the medical examiners in the state?"

"Yes."

"Wow. That sounds like a pretty sweet gig, aside from the dead people."

"She's also an author," said Angela. "Her first book is coming out next month."

"Really?"

"Yeah, a mystery novel," said Jane. "My woman has skills."

"Holy crap, lady. You really _are_ the woman who does it all!"

Maura smiled shyly. "It remains to be seen if anyone will actually buy the book."

"I'll buy it!" Diana said. "As long as you promise to sign it!"

"Everyone I know is getting a copy for Christmas this year," said Jane. "So there's also that."

"So are all my friends!" said Angela. "I'm just so proud of you, Maura."

Diana shook her head in disbelief. "The more I learn about you, Maura, the more amazed I am. You have a prestigious job, a perfect family, and you're about to be a published author. I don't think it's enough for you to coach me on fencing. I need you to coach me on _life_!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Maura looked at her watch. Jane should be arriving soon with her students. She walked around the autopsy room, making sure everything was set up properly. It was September now, four months since Jane's miscarriage. In that time, Jane had completed her internship at the Police Academy and had been given a couple of courses to teach for the fall. She was bringing a group of recruits here today so they could see how autopsy worked and its role in solving homicides, and she had asked Maura to "make it gross" in order to weed out the recruits who couldn't quite handle it. Maura was always happy to share the joy of science with new people, and she was even happier to have Jane dropping by during an autopsy, just like old times.

There was another reason she was looking forward to seeing Jane today. She and Jane were waiting for a phone call, one they hoped would bring good news at last. After the miscarriage, they'd had genetic testing done on their remaining zygotes to make sure they didn't implant any more with chromosomal abnormalities. The doctors were able to check for more than a hundred genetic disorders in addition to getting a complete picture of each zygote's chromosomes, which could even tell them the sex. Jane and Maura had asked not to be told the sex unless a pregnancy developed, but they would be able to know as soon as they wanted, and they wouldn't have to consider doing any tests such as amniocentesis down the line. Most importantly, they were greatly decreasing their odds of having another miscarriage, and increasing their odds of having a healthy baby. They had now done three transfers with zygotes that had passed the screening. The first two had not implanted. They were now awaiting word on the third one, as Jane had gotten her blood drawn to check for pregnancy the previous day. Maura hoped the call would come while Jane was there today, so they could find out together.

Maura looked up with a smile when she glimpsed Jane leading her class of recruits down the hall to the autopsy room. They all had on visitor's badges, including Jane, and the recruits' faces showed a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is the distinguished Dr. Maura Isles, chief medical examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," Jane announced dramatically as she pushed the door open. "She is the youngest person in Massachusetts history to be appointed chief medical examiner, as well as the first woman, so if any of you find yourselves stepping on shards of broken glass, that's just from the ceiling she shattered. She's the very best medical examiner we've ever had, and, full disclosure, she's also my wife. But everything I said about her is still true. Countless killers are behind bars right now because of evidence Dr. Isles has discovered right here in this room."

Maura really wasn't sure what to do after that introduction, so she just gave the recruits a sheepish smile and said, "It's very nice to have you all here. You came at a good time, because I'm just about to start a new autopsy. This is a victim who was brought in last night after falling down the stairs in his home, according to his wife. However, neighbors say they heard arguing, and police are suspicious about the shape of this head wound. It's my job to determine if his death was accidental as his wife says, or if it was homicide." She began pulling back the sheet covering the body. "All of you need to make sure you're standing where you can see. Some of you may get a little squeamish, but that's okay. It does take some getting used to, and one of the best homicide detectives we've ever had was known to vomit at the sight of a dead body."

"That is true," Jane agreed. "But you have to be a really amazing detective like he was to get by with that. If you're not, you'd better to pick a department other than Homicide."

A young man raised his hand.

"What is it, Doug?" Jane asked.

"I already know I don't want to do Homicide," he said nervously. "Do I still have to watch?"

"Yes," said Jane.

Maura suppressed a smile and went on with her explanation. "If I'm on duty when a body is found, I always go out to the crime scene to do a preliminary examination of the body, or another medical examiner goes if I'm off duty. This gives us the chance to see the body exactly as it was found, determine time of death, and possibly discover other forensic evidence at the scene. Of course, CSRU techs are responsible for taking pictures and gathering most evidence, and homicide detectives also go out to the crime scene. Once the ME on duty gives the okay, the body is transferred here, and an autopsy is done as soon as is reasonable. Sometimes we're able to do the autopsy later that same day, while other times it may take a few days to get to it. The first thing I always do—" She faltered when she realized Jane's phone was buzzing. Jane pulled out her phone, and her eyes went quickly to Maura's.

"Excuse me for a minute," Jane said to the recruits. "I have to take this." She dashed into Maura's office, already lifting the phone to her ear as she closed the door behind her.

Maura looked through the window into the crime lab and, catching Kent's attention, waved him over. "This is Dr. Drake," she informed the recruits as he came into the room. "He's going to explain how we examine the body while I step out for a minute." She hurried to her office after Jane.

Jane was still on the phone when Maura came in. "Yes," she said to the person on the other end, not looking at Maura. "Okay. Thank you…Yes, I will…Okay. Thank you." She hung up and turned to Maura.

"Was that the fertility clinic?"

"Yeah." Jane looked around Maura's office, which hadn't changed much since she had left BPD. "This is the room we were in when we found out Charlotte was on the way," she remarked.

"Yes, it is." Maura looked at Jane expectantly, her heart pounding.

Jane's eyes moved back to Maura's, and she smiled slightly. "I'm pregnant," she said. "My hCG levels are almost 300, which is good. Everything looks good. I'm pregnant."

"Oh, Jane!" Maura stepped forwards and threw her arms around her wife, giving her a big kiss. "This is wonderful! And we know this baby doesn't have any chromosomal anomalies, and we know you're healthy, so it's very likely that this one will go to term." She kissed Jane again. "We're having a baby!"

"Yeah." Jane smiled down at Maura. "But there's more."

"What?"

"They asked if I wanted to know the sex now, and I didn't know what you wanted me to say, so I said yes without even thinking about it."

Maura's eyes widened. "So what is it?"

Jane's smile grew as if she was just starting to understand what she'd been told. "It's a girl. We're having another girl."

Maura let out an excited squeal and threw herself at Jane again. "Charlotte's going to have a little sister!" She kissed Jane's cheek. "We're going to have two little girls!"

"Yeah," said Jane uncertainly, pulling back. "Unless I lose this one too. Maybe I should have told them not to tell me the sex yet. It'll just make it that much more upsetting to lose it if we know something about it."

"You won't lose her." Maura kissed her again. "Of course we won't tell anyone until we hear the heartbeat, like with Charlotte. But chromosomal abnormalities account for more than half of miscarriages, and we know for a fact this baby doesn't have any. We also know your hCG levels are where they should be, at least for the moment, and you're not engaging in any risky behaviors. It's highly unlikely we will lose this one."

"Are you sure?"

"Well there's always a risk, but it's a pretty low risk in this case. Even lower than when I was pregnant with Charlotte, and everything worked out that time."

"Yeah?" Jane smiled again. "It _will_ be pretty sweet to have a little girl that looks like you."

"Well, we don't know how much she'll look like me."

"We know she'll have blonde hair, because you and the sperm donor both have blonde hair. And we know she'll have either green eyes like Charlotte's, or hazel eyes like yours."

"Her facial structure could be nothing like mine."

Jane kissed her. "I bet it'll be _something_ like yours."

"I guess we'll find out in nine months." Maura's heart felt like it was going to burst. She could picture their little family clearly now: her, Jane, and two little girls born two years apart. She threw her arms around Jane's neck. "Jane, my beautiful Jane, I love you so much," she said, covering Jane's face in kisses.

Jane laughed. "I love you too," she said. "But we'd better get back to work."

"Okay," Maura said reluctantly, stepping back to admire her wife. "I think being pregnant makes you sexier."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "I don't look any different."

"Not yet, but I already _see_ you differently. You're having my baby. That's sexy." She grinned. "Now I know how you felt when I was pregnant!"

Jane laughed. "Yeah. Now you know."

XXX

Maura left work early that day, still feeling like she was walking on air. She met Jane at the fertility clinic to get a copy of the genetic report on the embryo that implanted, then followed her home. When they got out of their cars they found Angela outside with Charlotte, who was on her little ride-on car.

"Mommy Mama!" Charlotte yelled, climbing off her car and running gleefully at her parents.

"Hi Charlotte!" Maura scooped up the 18-month-old and held her close. "I love you baby girl," she said into her soft curls.

"I wove you," Charlotte responded, planting a big, wet kiss on her mother's cheek. Lately she had been very into giving affection, which Maura could not get enough of.

Jane reached for their daughter and Maura handed her over. Charlotte gladly gave her other mom a slobbery kiss before saying, "I wove you, Mama."

"I love you too, Princess," said Jane, hugging her close and looking at Maura, who knew they were both thinking the same thing: _soon, we're going to have two of these._

"Girls! You're home earlier than I expected!" said Angela, making her way across the yard. "I haven't started anything for dinner."

"Oh that's okay, I was thinking of ordering in anyway," Maura said cheerfully. "Jane, what do you feel like eating?"

"I dunno. Maybe pizza?"

"I'll order your favorite!" Maura promised, heading to the door. She went into the kitchen and opened the drawer with the takeout menus. She knew exactly where Jane liked her pizza from and what her favorite kind was, and she would get it for her tonight. Jane deserved it, and it might become difficult for her to keep anything down soon. Maura was so excited about the thought of Jane getting to experience pregnancy. Yes, a lot of it was unpleasant, but she would finally know what it felt like to have a baby inside of her, to feel those first fluttery movements. Maura couldn't wait to see what Jane looked like with a big belly and swollen breasts. Her breasts would start growing first, Maura realized with a surge of excitement. The only down side was that they would be sore, so she might not want Maura to touch them.

After she called to place the pizza order, Maura sensed someone had come into the room and turned to see Angela watching her.

"Sorry Maura, I didn't mean to scare you," said Angela. "I was just noticing that you seem very happy about something."

"Do I?" said Maura, trying to make her face a bit more serious.

"Yes. When you got out of your car, you looked ready to start dancing. And I noticed the look you and Jane gave each other."

"What look?" Maura asked nervously.

"Just the sort of look couples get when they have a big secret." Angela eyed Maura carefully. "So how is Jane? Are you two still trying for another baby?"

"Um, well…" Where _was_ Jane? "We…haven't given up."

"She's pregnant again, isn't she?"

"Why would you say that?" Maura asked, trying not to panic.

"Tell me she's not and I'll believe you."

Maura stared at her mother-in-law, her mouth hanging open.

"I knew it!" Angela pulled Maura into a hug. "Oh, I'm so happy! Thank you for making this happen, Maura!" She kissed Maura's cheek just as Jane and Charlotte came into the room, Charlotte dragging one of her pull toys. Maura looked at her wife helplessly.

"Ma! What are you doing to her?" Jane demanded.

"What, I'm not allowed to hug her now?"

"Did she harass you into giving her information?" Jane asked Maura. Maura nodded, her eyes pleading for forgiveness.

"I don't see what the big deal is," insisted Angela. "I am your mother. Why wouldn't you want to tell me the good news that you're expecting again?"

Jane sighed. "I was going to tell you, Ma, if you would have given me a chance. But you can't repeat it to _anyone_. Not Frankie, not Ron, _no one_. We'll formally announce it when we hear the heartbeat, like we did before."

"Oh, Janie!" Angela enveloped her daughter in a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you! I can't wait to see what this baby's like."

"Well, we had genetic testing done before we implanted the embryo, so we know she should be pretty healthy," said Jane.

"She?"

Maura couldn't help smiling. "Two X chromosomes," she explained.

"So I'm gonna have _two_ granddaughters?"

Maura nodded happily.

Angela let out a happy scream. "You are going to be the most beautiful family! My four girls!" She pulled both Jane and Maura into a crushing hug.

"Me too!" Charlotte yelled, a phrase she'd picked up from her cousin T.J. She abandoned her toy and tried to wrap her little arms around everyone's legs. Maura picked her up.

"You're getting a little sister," she told her. She kissed Charlotte's cheek.

"If she makes it," said Jane, breaking up the group hug. "I'm four weeks along. I lost the last one at five weeks. We could be getting all excited for nothing!"

"Oh, honey," said Angela. "You can't let your fears take away your happiness right now. If she _is_ born healthy and happy, you're going to want to look back on today and remember how _happy_ you were when you found out you were pregnant."

"Like we were when we found out I was pregnant with Charlotte," Maura reminded her.

"I'm happy," said Jane. "I'm just scared at the same time."

"That's normal." Maura gave Jane a reassuring kiss. Charlotte started squirming, so Maura set her back down and watched her start dragging her toy again. "She'll be approximately two years and three months old when her little sister arrives," Maura noted.

"That's a good distance to have between siblings," said Angela. "I think it worked out well."

"It worked out very well, because we were almost out of sperm from the donor we used for Charlotte," said Maura. "I know they would be sisters whether or not they shared DNA, but there are advantages to having a biological sibling."

"Yeah," said Jane. "You never know when someone might need a kidney."

Maura smiled patiently. "That is one of the things I was thinking of, particularly for this baby. Charlotte has a biological mother, two uncles, a cousin, and a grandmother who would all be potential matches if she ever needs a kidney or bone marrow or something. This one only has me, maybe Hope in a pinch. And I already gave my spare kidney away. So by using the same donor, I gave her Charlotte too."

Jane smiled fondly. "You're a very thoughtful mommy. Did you order the pizza?"

"Yes, I did. I'd better the money ready."

"Yes, you'd better. They always bring the pizza super fast since you're such a big tipper."

"I need to get home, but I'm so happy for you girls!" Angela gave them each a hug and kissed Charlotte goodbye before heading out the door.

"I'm gonna get out the sparkling cider," said Jane. "I guess we _should_ be celebrating."

Maura flashed her a grin. "Yes, we should." She lightly patted Jane's abdomen, where the newest member of the family now resided, on the way to get her purse. She pulled out her wallet and extracted the correct amount of cash, making sure she had enough for a reasonable tip (even if Jane thought it was excessive). When she went to put her wallet back, she noticed a piece of paper crumpled up at the bottom of her purse and pulled it out, wondering what it was and how long it had been there. She smoothed the wrinkles and saw a note scrawled in unfamiliar handwriting:

 _YOUR LIFE ISN'T PERFECT._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"You know, if we could conceive a child together – if one of my eggs could fertilize one of yours – we would only be able to have daughters," Maura remarked as she got into bed beside Jane. Today they had gone to see Dr. Kessler, who thought Jane and the baby were doing quite well. She'd officially made it a week farther than she had the last time. Her hCG levels were shooting up like they were supposed to, and as a result, she was starting to feel very pregnant. She was grouchy and exhausted, and the daily puking had officially started. Maura, on the other hand, was quite chipper.

"Because we only have X chromosomes?" Jane asked sleepily.

"Yes! So in a way, it's fitting that we're having girls." Maura picked up a medical journal from the nightstand and settled back on her pillow. "It may actually be possibly someday to conceive babies in vitro using genetic material from two women."

"Then we wouldn't need men anymore."

"Technically, no," admitted Maura. "Though I would hate to get rid of them. If there were some sort of apocalyptic event making it impossible to continue reproducing in a lab, our entire species would die out. Not to mention, it does seem mean."

"We'd have way fewer homicides though," Jane yawned.

"Statistically speaking, that is true."

Jane scooted over closer to Maura so she could feel her warmth. She snaked an arm around Maura's middle and nuzzled her hair, breathing in the scent of her herbal shampoo. This was her new reality: Maura beside her, and a little piece of Maura growing inside her, becoming a whole new person.

"Are you feeling better about the pregnancy now?" Maura asked.

"Yeah. I'll feel even better when we do the first ultrasound, and lots better when I get out of the first trimester."

"The second trimester is the best. Your energy comes back, the sickness goes away, and you start to feel the baby move."

"And you get horny."

"A lot of women do."

"You certainly did. You were insatiable. More than usual, I mean."

"Which you handled admirably. I am fully prepared to return the favor and take care of your needs when the time comes."

Jane chuckled. "You really are the perfect wife."

Maura set down her medical journal so suddenly it made Jane jump, and she instantly regretted her use of the word "perfect." Now she had reminded Maura of the mysterious note that had been driving her crazy for two weeks.

"Maura, please, don't worry about that now," Jane pleaded. "You're perfect to _me_. It doesn't matter who thinks you're not."

"It _does_ matter, because it could be the same person who posted that article about me. Maybe that was the point of the article, to show everyone my life isn't perfect. And if the person who wrote the note also wrote the article, they may have killed two people."

"Yes, I know, sweetie, but can we worry about that during the day, when we're not trying to sleep?"

"You're right. You must be tired. You're building a placenta right now, which takes an enormous amount of energy." She snuggled a little closer to Jane and resumed reading her medical journal.

A minute later, though, she started in again. "I don't know if they were telling me that because they think I think my life is perfect, or because they think I'm trying to make my life _look_ perfect? Because, neither is true. I am well aware of my life's imperfections, and I've never pretended to be anything I'm not. I may not share certain things with everyone, but that doesn't mean I'm trying to trick people. It just means I want some privacy."

"I'm more interested in knowing where you were when they put it in your purse. If that was our killer, Maura, he got a lot closer to you than he should have. I'm very uneasy about that."

"It could have been anywhere. I've been using that purse for weeks. I've been at the office, crime scenes, Hope's clinic, the Dirty Robber, the fencing club, Boston Joe, the grocery store, the farmer's market, several different shops, the fertility clinic… I don't think I could even name all the places I've been with this purse. Someone could easily have slipped it in while my back was turned, or bumped into me. I could have been carrying that note for some time."

"Yes, you could have." Jane planted a kiss on Maura's head. "But whoever it was, they're not here right now. It's only us, and our life might not be _perfect_ , but it's pretty damn close."

"Yes. You're right. I'll let you sleep now." Maura turned her head to kiss Jane. "I love you."

"I love you too, beautiful lady."

Maura went back to her journal, and Jane finally drifted off to sleep.

XXX

Jane woke a few hours later, feeling cold. She could hear Maura moving around the dark room.

"Is there a body?" Jane asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yes, in a warehouse near the river. Frankie's coming to get me."

Jane looked at the clock. 2:49 am. She wished she could go with Maura, but at least she wouldn't be going alone.

"I should be back by the time you're up. Go back to sleep," said Maura, crossing the room to kiss her.

"Be careful. I love you," said Jane.

"I love you too," Maura called over her shoulder on the way out of the room.

Jane looked at the baby monitor and saw Charlotte sleeping in her crib. Maura appeared on the screen briefly, looking in on their daughter, and then she was gone. Jane lay back down and willed herself to sleep.

XXX

Jane woke again at dawn. Maura was getting back into bed, her clothes still on.

"Hey," mumbled Jane. "How was the body?"

Maura was silent for a moment. "It's not good, Jane. I think you're going to want to come in with me when I go to the office."

Jane sat up. "Is it our guy?"

"I think so. The victim wasn't tied to a tree, but…" She picked up her phone and pulled up a picture, showing it to Jane. A chill went down Jane's spine.

A young woman with dark hair lay naked on the warehouse floor, her hands pinned to the floor with scalpels. She had several cuts, including one on the left side of her neck. The word "BITCH" was carved onto her forehead.

"So he's doing Hoyt now," Jane said, struggling to keep her voice steady.

Maura nodded grimly. "You can see blood on her thighs, indicating probable sexual assault. She's around the same age as the others. Frankie's going through missing person reports to see if he can identify her. But, it's becoming clear that this isn't about what happened to me. This is something bigger."

Jane rubbed her face. "Hoyt didn't carve names on his victims."

"No. But we've already discussed that he's not a very good copycat. Perhaps he isn't even trying to be. Maybe he's just trying to do enough to make sure we get the message he's trying to send."

Jane zoomed in on the picture. "He's not the most creative with his insults. Do you suppose this means he knew her?"

"Maybe, but how do we know she's the one he's calling a bitch?"

"We don't," Jane admitted.

"What's even more important is that he already told us he was going to do this."

"He did?"

"The anagram. On the article about me, he used an anagram of 'Charles Hoyt.' Then he imitated Hoyt with his next kill."

"So if he posts another article—"

"We are going to want to pay very close attention to the anagram."

Jane took a deep breath and blew it out. "So what do you suppose took this sick fuck so long to kill a third victim? We had nothing over the summer."

Maura's eyes widened. "Maybe he's someone who isn't _here_ over the summer."

"Definitely something we'll want to look into."

"Jane," said Maura hesitantly. "I'm sure you noticed that the way he staged this victim wasn't the typical way Hoyt left his victims."

"I know. The scalpels in the hands. It's what Hoyt did to _me_."

Maura put her phone on the nightstand. "I think it's safe to say I'm not the only one who needs to be careful about going places alone."

Jane rubbed her face again. "You're not gonna hire another bodyguard, are you?"

"No. I just want you to take the same precautions you told me to take. Remember, it's not just you right now. You have to keep our baby safe."

"I know." Jane lay back down, staring up at the lightening ceiling. "The first kill wasn't anything special. He raped her, he strangled her, he tied her to a tree. That's it. Why was that one different?"

"Maybe it was his first kill. Maybe he did that one just to see if he could."

"But if he only just started killing, why is he so good? Why doesn't he leave any evidence?"

"I don't know. He could have a background in law enforcement. He could have had instruction from a more experienced killer. He could just be very smart."

Jane noticed she was rubbing one of her scars and stopped. "I'll tell Frankie we need to look into older cases, see if there's anyone he could be apprenticed to. We're already working the law enforcement angle."

Maura lay down beside Jane. "Today you only teach in the afternoon. Could you call your mom and have her come over this morning so I can take you to work with me?"

"Yeah. I'll call her."

"We can go in the Mercedes, then have lunch, and I'll drop you off at the Academy and pick you up again when I get off work."

" _Maura_. I can drive myself."

"Just for today?" Maura pleaded, and there was so much fear in her voice that Jane couldn't say no.

"Fine. Just for today."

XXX

When they got to BPD, they found Frankie and Nina huddled in the BRIC. They both looked up grimly when Jane and Maura arrived.

"Is there another article already?" Jane asked.

"I just called the Boston Globe so they can take it down," said Nina. "But you can read it." She pushed a button and the article appeared on the big screen, with the headline:

 _DOOMED LOVE_

 _The complicated relationship between ex-Boston Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli and serial killer Charles Hoyt_

By Mr. Kindon Second

Jane felt her nausea worsen. "Fucking hell, is this asshat actually suggesting I had some kind of romance with Hoyt?" she burst out.

"I'm afraid so," said Nina. "Read the article."

Jane didn't really want to read the article. But she did anyway.

 _Jane Rizzoli's obsession with Charles Hoyt began in 2009, when, after a lengthy search by Boston Police, she attempted to single-handedly confront the man known to have killed at least three couples. Her reasons for confronting him on her own are not made clear in police reports. Possibly she set out to prove that a female cop could do more than her male counterparts, with disastrous results. Or, possibly she already had a fixation on Hoyt, a man who, once imprisoned, received countless letters from female admirers around the country who were impressed by his strength and cunning. Whichever it was, there is no question that Hoyt has been on her mind since that night, when he tried to make her one of his victims, pinning her to the floor with scalpels (his weapon of choice) and likely raping her._

"Hold on," said Jane. "He didn't rape me. I mean, yeah, he wanted to, but Korsak got there before he had a chance."

Maura's soft hand slipped into hers. "He's just trying to wind you up, Jane."

Jane swallowed and nodded, forcing herself to continue with the story.

 _Hoyt resurfaced in January 2010, when his apprentice, John Stark, began killing in Boston. Rizzoli immediately seized on the opportunity to visit Hoyt in prison, where she admitted to dreaming about him. Inspired by this, Hoyt escaped from prison and took Rizzoli away to a remote location, where a lovers' quarrel resulted in Rizzoli killing Stark and wounding Hoyt, who was taken back into custody. Reports note that Jane had the opportunity to kill Hoyt as well as ample justification for doing so, but chose not to, lending weight to the theory that she was in love with him but knew the romance was taboo._

 _Eight months later, another victim-turned-lover of Hoyt's, Emily Stern, became aware of her competition and began stalking Rizzoli, eventually trapping her with the intention of killing her. The plot failed and resulted in Stern's death instead, allowing Rizzoli to finally have Hoyt all to herself. Their clandestine romance continued for a year, until Hoyt learned he was dying from pancreatic cancer. Rizzoli made plans to meet privately with Hoyt, likely for the last time, on her 35_ _th_ _birthday. At the last minute she decided to allow her lesbian lover, chief medical examiner Maura Isles, to accompany her. We may never know the reasons for this. Did Rizzoli want the two most important people in her life to be with her that night, or did Isles, feeling jealous of Hoyt, refuse to let them meet alone? Regardless, the meeting quickly turned to chaos. Hoyt made sexual advances towards Isles, causing Rizzoli to fly into a rage and stab the already dying man. Police accepted the stabbing as self-defense on Rizzoli's part, but the facts do not support this. Hoyt should have been handcuffed to his bed in the prison infirmary. The fact he was not shows that Rizzoli clearly freed him from his restraints, which means she did not see him as a threat. And, realistically, could a man with stage four pancreatic cancer have posed a threat to a trained police officer? What is known is that Hoyt was touching Isles, who was lying in one of the infirmary beds, at the time Rizzoli attacked him. It seems far more likely that her attack was the result of a jealous rage and that BPD chose to portray it as self-defense in order to avoid a scandal._

"I'm gonna lose my breakfast," said Jane, shaking in anger.

"I know, it's sickening," said Frankie.

"No, I mean it." Jane turned and ran out of the room, down the hall to the bathroom. She got to the toilet just in time and, as she leaned forward to purge herself of her breakfast, gentle fingers gathered her hair up and held it back out of the way.

"You did it for me," Maura said softly, and when Jane was certain there was no more coming up, she turned to face her wife's reassuring smile.

"You're so amazing," Jane said hoarsely.

"I'm simply doing my job as your wife," said Maura, grabbing a paper towel and running it under water. "Vomiting is good. It means your hCG levels are still high, and they need to be in order to sustain the pregnancy." She wiped Jane's face with the paper towel. "Although that article made me want to vomit, and I'm not even pregnant."

"I get that he's just trying to piss me off by claiming I was romantically involved with Hoyt, but why say Hoyt raped me? He didn't, and I would be, if it's possible, even _less_ likely to fall for the asshole if he had." Jane shuddered. Why did it bother her so much? She shouldn't let the creep get to her like this.

"It's a common fantasy among sex offenders that women on some level enjoy being raped," said Maura calmly.

"He said my breasts were firm," Jane blurted out. "He might have been just trying to fuck with me, because that's what he did, but he could have touched them while I was knocked out."

Maura nodded, her eyes sad. "We'll never know for sure. But we do know he didn't rape you."

Jane let Maura take her hands. They did know that much, for a fact. She wasn't out long enough, and Hoyt was not the sort to assault an unconscious woman anyway. It was no fun for him if she wasn't experiencing psychological anguish the entire time. When she woke up, he had been patiently waiting for her so he could get started.

"He was going to," she said. "For just a minute, before Korsak got there, I really believed he was going to. I didn't know how to stop him. I couldn't move my hands. I was so fucking _helpless_."

"I know," Maura said sympathetically, and Jane suddenly felt ashamed. Maura knew because she'd been helpless like that once, not for minutes but for days. It had taken that long for Jane to save her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be this upset over something that _almost_ happened to me."

"I completely understand, Jane. It still upsets me, and I wasn't even there." Her fingers traced Jane's scars, and Jane reflexively pulled her hands away.

"Let's get back to the BRIC," she said.

Frankie looked concerned when they got back, but Nina went on as if nothing had happened, no doubt trying to spare Jane's dignity. "I put 'Mr. Kindon Second' through an anagram server, but I haven't found anything meaningful yet," she said, showing them a long list of nonsense phrases on her computer.

Maura squinted thoughtfully at the name on the article. "Do you have any paper?"

"Yeah." Nina found her paper and a pen, and Maura wrote down the phony name.

"So the articles are how this unsub communicates with us," said Jane. "Nielson sent us pictures. This guy writes relevant articles that are designed to get under our skin, and then he shares them with the public."

"There's also the note Maura got," said Frankie.

"If it's connected. I hope it's not, because if it is, this guy got really close to Maura without us noticing, which is not okay."

"The person who wrote the articles does have a grasp of spelling and grammar," Maura pointed out, still rearranging letters on her paper. "That means he's at least somewhat educated."

"And good with computers," said Jane. "But this isn't connected to Nielson, as we thought before. It's not connected to any particular killer. This is about us, me and Maura." She shivered again. It felt so real now that she had said it out loud. "He's imitating killers who have tried to kill one or both of us. The first article was intended to humiliate Maura. This one was intended to humiliate me."

"Both killers actually planned to kill both of us," said Maura.

"True, but Nielson primarily targeted you, and Hoyt primarily targeted me. It's anyone's guess who the next one might be, or at least, it _would_ be anyone's guess if he hadn't left us this handy anagram."

"I'm working on it," Maura promised, frowning in concentration.

"I know, honey." She turned to Frankie. "So did you ID the victim yet?"

"Maura will have to confirm it when she does the autopsy, but she matches the description of 19-year-old Hannah Elgin. Another college student. She was last seen leaving her best friend's apartment after an all-nighter, going to catch the bus. Same neighborhood the other two disappeared in."

"So our unsub is definitely connected to that neighborhood. We need to recanvas it. There's something we're missing."

"Jane!" cried Maura softly.

"What is it?"

"I think I figured it out," she said, looking pale.

"The anagram? Okay, tell us."

Maura held up the pad of paper. "It's Dennis Rockmond."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Maura watched Jane flipping through the report on Frankie's desk, trying to find something new in the information the detectives had gathered from the residents of the neighborhood young women kept disappearing from. They had focused most heavily on the people who lived near the bus stop, since two of the victims had vanished after leaving to catch a bus, but they still didn't have a suspect.

"Okay, so we have two lesbian couples on this block, two straight couples, an old man, two college dudes, two families with small children, and a single lady. But I don't know _any_ of them."

"Neither do I," said Maura.

Jane looked up. "This has to be personal. It's gotta be someone who thinks we wronged them in some way. It can't just be some stranger who's randomly decided to taunt us and write damaging articles about us."

"Perhaps it's something like what happened with Alice Sands," Maura suggested. "Maybe we don't remember him, but he remembers us."

"Or it's someone who hunts in the neighborhood but doesn't live there, in which case it _could_ be someone we know."

"But they must have some connection, or why would they hunt _there_?" said Frankie.

"I'm sure there's a connection," agreed Jane. "It's just not obvious."

"So if he kills again, it's going to be in the style of Dennis Rockmond," said Maura, hating the sound of the name in her mouth. "Which means cutting a woman's arms off and turning her into a statue."

"Wouldn't he need some kind of artistic talent to do that?" frowned Jane.

"He would in order to do it well."

"But nobody on our list has an art background," said Frankie.

"Hell, we don't know if he's going to do it _well_ ," said Jane. "But knowing he plans to do Rockmond next changes the criteria a little. The first two were serial killers who in some way threatened both Maura and me, and I killed both of them. Rockmond was a serial killer who only tried to kill Maura – he never threatened me – and I didn't kill him. He suicided."

"But you were the one who figured out he was the killer we were looking for," said Maura. "So that's still a theme. It does seem that he's interested in people who have threatened _either_ of us, not necessarily _both_ of us."

"So someone has a fixation on both of us," said Jane, her eyes meeting Maura's. "Who would it be? I'm not a cop anymore, and _you_ don't piss people off."

"I'm sure the many people I've testified against or otherwise put behind bars would disagree."

"None of those people live in this neighborhood."

"Nina's looking into their backgrounds," Frankie promised. "One of them might be associated with someone you guys put away. We'll find them if they are."

"You can't blame one cop and a medical examiner for putting someone away," said Jane, her brow furrowed. "It always takes more people than that."

"They may have perceived it to be primarily the two of us," suggested Maura. "But that's only one theory. It could have nothing to do with anyone who's been convicted because of us."

Jane groaned and slumped over the desk. "We keep learning more, but we still don't know enough! And I feel like I'm missing a really major detail that's just staring me in the face. It's itching at my brain and I can't think what it is. My mind is too fuzzy."

Maura almost explained the science behind "pregnancy brain," but then she remembered Frankie didn't know about the pregnancy yet. Then she looked at her watch. "Oh, Jane, it's time to go!"

Jane pushed herself back up. "All right. I'll see you guys tomorrow. We have someplace to be."

Maura waved goodbye to Frankie and headed to the elevator with Jane.

"You know," said Jane, "I hate that all this is happening, but I'm kind of enjoying coming back here and working on stuff, like I used to do. It almost feels like I never left."

Maura smiled. "I've really enjoyed having you here. I hope we wrap this case up soon, but there will always be others. Maybe you can consult on some of those too."

"Yeah, maybe. It's kind of like having the best of both worlds to be able to come here and work on a case with you and then go home at a reasonable time, without having been shot at."

"And if you continue teaching just part-time at the Academy, you should have time for it." Maura felt hopeful as they walked out to her car. She was glad Jane had a safer job, especially now that she was pregnant, but she had missed working with her so badly. The best part of the day, for her, was when Jane showed up in the autopsy room unannounced, just to talk. She loved it when she heard the door open and looked up to see the woman she loved. She could _feel_ the release of dopamine and oxytocin at the sight of her. It made her work day so much more enjoyable.

"So, we're about to get our first look at this baby," said Jane cautiously, settling into the passenger seat.

"Our first look and our first listen," said Maura, starting the car and pulling away from the curb.

"Assuming she's doing okay."

"Well, we'll know for sure soon."

"The last time we did this, the shoe was on the other foot…or, I mean, the fetus was in the other uterus, so to speak."

Maura chuckled. "Technically still an embryo right now, but yes."

"It's weird that we already know it's a girl. When we had the first ultrasound with Charlotte, it was too soon to know, but this time we knew right at the beginning."

"This time, we have a picture of her chromosomes. I'm wishing now we had done that with Charlotte. It's very expensive, but it saves a lot of trouble down the line. With this baby, we also already know that she doesn't have Down syndrome, Turner syndrome, cri du chat syndrome, or a number of other chromosomal disorders." A thought struck Maura. "Are you disappointed that it's not a boy?"

"What? Why would I be disappointed?"

"This means we won't have a son. Did you want a son?"

Jane shrugged. "I wanted a couple of kids with you. I wasn't that particular about gender."

"Are you sure? A lot of people would want one boy and one girl."

"Is that what you wanted?"

"Part of me did, but when I found out it was another girl, it seemed perfect to me. Two women, two little girls."

"If we did have a boy, he'd be growing up in a house full of women. I'm not sure he'd love that."

"I'm sure he'd be okay."

"But this way, we get to reuse Charlotte's old clothes, which is good since I'm pretty sure you've spent hundreds of dollars on her wardrobe."

Maura was quiet.

"I'm underestimating, aren't I?"

"I haven't done the math, but probably."

"Then if we _did_ have a son, he'd be cross-dressing, because it's absolutely ridiculous to spend that much money on clothes for one baby. It takes her like two seconds to outgrow everything."

Maura laughed. "So you don't feel like you'll be missing out by not having a son?"

"Not really," said Jane thoughtfully. "I mean, what could I do with a son that I can't do with my daughters?"

Maura pondered that. "Nothing. I can't think of anything."

"I think gender is a little overrated sometimes. Look at us. We're not that gender conforming. Even my brothers admit I'm better at sports than they are., and you're the only person in the family who knows how to fix a car. We both work in male-dominated fields. So we know better than to think having girls means all we're going to talk about is Disney princesses for the next 20 years."

"Very true," agreed Maura. "And if we had boys, who's to say they wouldn't be interested in fashion and makeup? There's a Cover Boy now."

"Exactly. So we know she's a girl. How much does that even tell us about her?"

"It tells me we get to raise two strong, intelligent girls instead of one."

"Which sounds amazing, especially if one of them looks like you."

"Will you be disappointed if she doesn't?"

"There you go again with that 'disappointed' stuff. Maura, let's get one thing straight: having kids with you is something beyond my wildest dreams. It's not humanly possible for me to be disappointed in this situation. This baby is not going to be anything short of amazing, because I'm bringing her into the world with you."

Maura broke into a smile. Somehow Jane always managed to make her feel like the most special person in the world, even though she knew it couldn't be true.

XXX

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Kessler asked Jane as she led them back to the room with the ultrasound machine.

"Miserable," admitted Jane. "I can hardly eat anything other than toast. I can't handle hanging out in Maura's autopsy room anymore because the smell is so horrible, even though I was used to it until recently. I'm throwing up more than ever, but the wife says that's a good thing."

"Unfortunately, she's right," said Dr. Kessler with a smile, gesturing to the table. Jane lay down and undid her pants. Dr. Kessler put a towel over her, tucking it into her pants, and squirted the ultrasound gel onto her abdomen. Maura leaned forward eagerly as the image appeared on the screen, her heart rate speeding up. She was anxious to see the embryo, but also scared. Jane was having all the symptoms a woman who was two months pregnant should be having, but it was still possible they would find out the baby was dead and that her body just wasn't recognizing it yet. She took Jane's hand and held it tight.

"Damn it, Maura, she looks like a turtle," Jane said jokingly when they got their first view of the embryo.

"Tortoise," Maura said automatically, not taking her eyes off the screen.

Jane turned her head to look at her. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

"No. I just…I assumed you were saying she looked like Bass, who is a _tortoise_. I don't think she looks like a tortoise _or_ a turtle."

"She's 1.5 centimeters from crown to rump," said Dr. Kessler, taking the measurement. "That's within the normal range."

"Her head is enormous," said Jane. "I think she's got your big brain."

All healthy embryos had heads that looked enormous in proportion to the rest of their bodies, but Maura was looking at something far more important: the tiny heart, which was beating frantically, just as it should. Dr. Kessler turned on the sound and they heard it thundering away for a few seconds.

"176 beats per minute," said Dr. Kessler. "It sounds very healthy." She shifted the view and took another measurement. "The yolk sac is about half a centimeter."

"Yolk sac?" said Jane in alarm. "I have a yolk sac?"

"That's where she gets her nutrients," Maura explained.

"I thought that was from the placenta?"

"The placenta is still forming," said Dr. Kessler. "The yolk sac will shrink and no longer be visible on ultrasounds by the end of the first trimester. But for now, a healthy yolk sac is necessary for a healthy embryo."

"She's moving a little," Maura pointed out. The baby was wiggling a leg bud and arm bud.

"Wasn't Charlotte moving more during her first ultrasound?" asked Jane.

"A little more, but they don't move as much at this stage as they do later," Maura assured her. "We managed to catch Charlotte at just the right moment."

"Right now, she's just starting to look a little like a baby," said Dr. Kessler. "Her hands and feet are developing, as are her facial features. Most major organs have also started to develop." She turned to smile at Jane and Maura. "She's showing normal growth and a strong heartbeat. Everything looks good. At this point, you only have a two percent chance of miscarriage."

Jane visibly relaxed. "So this one's sticking around?"

Maura squeezed her hand. "This one's sticking around."

XXX

Sunday afternoon, Maura sat down in her home office during Charlotte's nap to get some writing done. Tonight everyone was coming to their house for dinner, and they planned to make a formal announcement of Jane's pregnancy. In the meantime, Maura was working on a sequel to the novel she'd published. She hoped to make a whole series involving her intrepid detective, Simone de Sauveterre, and she was considering giving her a love interest this time around. It was even more important, however, to work out the details of Simone's new case. She was quite absorbed in the scene she was writing when Jane walked in and dropped a piece of paper onto her desk.

"It took me a while to dig it out, but here it is: the list of girls' names we both liked when we were picking one out the first time around."

Maura picked up the list and looked it over:

 _Charlotte  
Eva  
Gia  
Grace  
Isabella  
Scarlet_

"'Charlotte' was my idea," said Jane. "I want you to pick this time. I like all the names on that list. Just tell me your favorite."

Maura looked at the list for another minute, then set it down decisively. "Eva."

Jane smiled. "Eva," she said carefully, weighing each sound.

"Eva Gonzalès was a French Impressionist painter who studied under Édouard Manet," Maura said brightly. "There was also a German-American sculptor named Eva Hesse, of whom my mother is very fond."

"I like it. Any thoughts on the middle name? We named Charlotte after my mom, so we could name _Eva_ after yours if you wanted."

"Which one?"

"That would be up to you, but if I had to make a wild guess, I'd say maybe the one you _call_ 'Mom?'"

"Eva Constance." Maura made a face. "I don't know. Your mother is a big part of both our lives. Mine isn't."

"She raised you. That has a pretty big impact on both our lives."

"I'll have to think about it."

"No rush. We have seven months to figure it out."

"But we're sticking with 'Eva?'"

"You sounded pretty certain. I think it's a lovely name."

Maura smiled. "It's my favorite. I thought so the last time, but when you mentioned liking the name Charlotte, it just sounded perfect."

Jane smiled back. "Well, I'm glad we get to use the name Eva too."

XXX

"How have your book sales been, Maura?" Angela asked when they were all sitting down to dinner that evening.

"Oh, they've been pretty good, considering that I'm unknown," said Maura. She looked around the table at Angela and Ron, Frankie and Nina, Tommy and T.J., Korsak and Kiki, Charlotte in her high chair, and Jane – beautiful, pregnant Jane – at Maura's side. This was the big family that would be waiting for little Eva when she arrived in the world.

"Listen to her being humble," said Jane, rolling her eyes. "The book's been out four months now, and she's already sold tens of thousands of copies, after worrying no one would buy it. She made it to number thirteen on the bestseller list. They had to do a second printing."

"I knew you were going to be famous!" said Angela. "Everyone in my book club said so."

"You read her book in your book club?" Jane asked in amusement.

"Of course! Everyone was excited that my daughter-in-law had written a novel. We all loved it. It kept us guessing right to the end. Half the club was sure that one guy, the one who worked in the museum, was the killer. The other half thought it was the strange lady who kept popping up at crime scenes. We argued and argued, and we were all wrong! They keep asking me when you're going to write another one."

"I've started the next one," Maura said cautiously. "I'm not sure how soon it will be finished though."

"Everyone loved the heroine, Simone whatever-her-name-is. I kept saying, 'she's based off my Jane. Maura is so smitten with her.'"

"Why am I not in your book?" asked Frankie.

" _Nobody_ is in my book," insisted Maura. "The main character was inspired by Jane, but she _isn't_ Jane. The other characters are entirely made up. I don't plan on putting any of you into my novels."

"So there," said Jane smugly, sitting back in her chair.

"I couldn't put the first book down, so I look forward to reading the next one," said Kiki. "And speaking of things to look forward to, how is the wedding planning going? Is everything ready?"

"Oh, it's at the point where I feel like I'm going nuts," said Nina. "There isn't enough _time_ left to do everything! We just got our marriage license, but I still have to have my final gown fitting, which they told me to bring the maid of honor to, but she's in Chicago! We also have to talk to the vendors one more time to make sure they all know what they're doing, finalize the guest list, make sure the bridesmaids have their dresses ready and the groomsmen have their tuxes rented…There's too much! I feel like we need to push it back another month!"

Maura brightened. Nina had asked her and Jane to be bridesmaids, which they had agreed to – Maura enthusiastically, Jane less so – but Tommy had backed out of being best man when he found out he had to give a speech, and Frankie had offered the position to Jane instead. Now Jane was going to be best man for the second time in her life, this time wearing a women's tuxedo that Maura thought she looked quite sexy in. She sincerely hoped Jane's sex drive would improve a little by then, because she sincerely hoped to end the evening by ripping the tuxedo back off Jane when they got home.

"I have my tux, and T.J.'s ring bearer tux," said Tommy.

"I've got mine!" beamed Korsak.

"My dress is ready, and I bought a beautiful Italian fitted tuxedo for Jane," said Maura. "She looks great in it. I'll take her to a tailor the week before to see if she needs any adjustments made, since she may have gained a little weight by then."

Everyone fell silent and looked at her.

"Oh," said Maura. "Um, we do have an announcement to make."

"Well, there's really only one thing this can be," said Nina, a grin spreading across her face.

"I'm two months pregnant," Jane admitted. "I'm due June sixth. We had the first ultrasound a few days ago."

The table erupted into cheers and congratulations. Charlotte started clapping and yelling "Yay!" even though she wasn't sure what everyone was so excited about. Maura jumped up from the table and ran off to get the ultrasound pictures, which everyone passed around the table. The rest of the evening was full of excited chatter about what the baby would be like and what plans they should make, with Kiki volunteering to throw the baby shower even though Jane assured her they already had everything they could possibly need. Maura was struck – as she had been when they announced her own pregnancy two years earlier – by how much love and joy would meet this baby on her arrival. _It should be like this for every baby,_ she thought.

XXX

"I have an idea for the middle name," Maura told Jane as they were getting ready for bed that night. "My mom might not like it, since she already knows Charlotte's middle name is Angela, but _I_ like it."

"Okay, what is it?" Jane asked, wriggling her lithe body into her pajamas.

"What do you think of 'Eva Suzanne?'"

Jane looked up. "You want to name her after Susie."

Maura nodded. "She died right before I got pregnant with Charlotte. She knew we were trying, and she was so excited for me. It's always made me sad that she never got to meet Charlotte, and I'm sad now that she'll never get to know Eva either, that our children won't get to know her."

"She would have loved them," Jane agreed. "She probably would have made little dioramas of their nurseries."

Maura laughed. "She would have been such a good role model."

"Yeah." Jane put her arms around Maura. "I think Eva Suzanne is perfect. Considering that you were Susie's hero, she would probably be ecstatic to know that you're naming your daughter after her."

Maura nodded, but couldn't speak around the lump in her throat. Instead she just held Jane and closed her eyes, trying to picture the new little baby they would have in seven months' time.

 _Eva Suzanne_.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Do you happen to know how to tie a bow tie?" Jane asked Maura, looking helplessly in the mirror.

Maura turned around, looking beautiful in her red satin bridesmaid gown. "I do! Here." She reached for Jane.

"Can I ask _why_ you know how to tie a bow tie?"

Maura shrugged. "You never know what skills will come in handy." She finished tying the bow and stepped back to admire her work. "You look sexy."

"Yeah? You wouldn't let me wear anything like this for _our_ wedding."

Maura shook her head. "You couldn't just be sexy that night. You also had to be beautiful. And you were! Can you believe it's been three and a half years already?"

Jane shook her head. "But we've accomplished a lot. One baby here, another on the way." She buttoned up her tailored tux jacket. "It's a good thing you took me to get this adjusted. I think my proportions _have_ changed since we first bought it."

Maura smiled, her eyes moving up and down Jane's figure. "Your hips are getting wider," she noted. "Your stomach is firmer. And your breasts are larger."

"Now don't jump on each other right here in the church," admonished Nina, returning to the room with her sister, Monica, and her best friend, Lisa.

"It's not my fault you put her in this sexy red dress," Jane said with a wicked grin, her fingers trailing lightly across the fabric on Maura's back. "But I'll control myself for now, because I really need to pee. Again."

"So do I," admitted Maura.

"At least you _can_ pee in that dress," Nina said to Maura. "I needed Lisa and Monica to hold my dress for me!"

"Jane and I had to help each other pee on our wedding day," said Maura. "I remember having to sit backwards on the toilet."

"Yeah, the whole getting married thing is something you only want to do _once_ ," said Jane on her way out of the room.

"So how are you feeling?" Maura asked her when they were washing their hands in the bathroom.

"I'm all right. Still nauseous, but I could really go for a hot dog right now."

"You're craving _hot dogs_? You know you can't eat them, right?"

"Well, not right _now_. We're at a wedding."

"No, not at all! Hot dogs can contain listeria monocytogenes, which cause listeriosis, a very dangerous disease for pregnant women. It could cause you to lose the baby."

Jane frowned. "Really?"

"They also contain sodium nitrates, which elevate your risk of cancer and heart disease. Really not the healthiest thing to eat even when you're not pregnant, and certainly nothing our unborn child needs to be exposed to."

"But they taste so good," Jane whined.

"I'll tell you what. If you're still craving them, I'll pick you up some vegetarian hot dogs tomorrow."

"Vegetarian hot dogs?" Jane wrinkled her nose.

"Yes, they're usually soy-based." She smoothed Jane's lapels. "Do you think you'll feel up to letting me…take this off of you, when we get home?"

"Mm. Maybe, if I'm not too tired. You _do_ look hot in that dress."

Maura smiled brilliantly. "And you look amazing. It's making me wet." Her lips met Jane's, and Jane felt an immediate fire inside that made her _almost_ not care that they were in her childhood church and that they had less than half an hour until the wedding started.

"It shouldn't turn me on that you just did that in a church," she said.

"But it did?" Maura asked with a wicked grin.

"You know you married a naughty Catholic schoolgirl." She kissed Maura again. "We'd better get back to the dressing room. Ma should be bringing Charlotte any time."

Angela and Charlotte were already there when they got back. Charlotte was exploring the room while Angela admired Nina's dress.

"There you two are," Angela said. "I've got Charlotte in a fresh diaper. All she needs is to get her pretty little dress on. Are you still going to try the flower girl thing?"

"That's up to Nina," said Jane.

"I think we can try it," said Nina. "She did really well at rehearsal."

"She did," agreed Jane, "but toddlers are nothing if not unpredictable."

"Well, if she goes off script, it's not the end of the world. It won't ruin the wedding. I just got little rosebuds to go in the basket so she can just carry it and not bother with sprinkling petals."

Maura knelt down in front of Charlotte. "Are you going to hold your basket and walk down the aisle with T.J. like you did last night?"

"Yeah," said Charlotte.

Angela chuckled. "Hopefully T.J. can keep her in line. I've got her diaper bag with a few toys and some milk in it, so I can try to keep her occupied during the ceremony."

"At least it's not a full Catholic ceremony," said Jane. "She'd never be able to sit through Mass, and I wouldn't be able to stand through it without running to the bathroom."

Angela chuckled as she walked out of the room. Maura picked up the little garment bag she'd brought and extracted Charlotte's red lace dress. It wasn't intended specifically as a flower girl dress, but it would work as one, particularly given Charlotte's age and the uncertainty that she would actually perform flower girl duties.

"Here's your pretty dress, Charlotte," said Maura.

"Petty," Charlotte agreed, reaching out to touch Italian lace.

"Are you ready to put it on?"

"Mm hm." She obediently held still while Maura pulled off her clothes and put the dress on her. Maura turned her around so she could zip the dress, and Charlotte noticed Nina in her wedding gown. "Aunt Nina petty," she remarked, pointing.

"Yes, she's very pretty," Maura agreed, picking Charlotte up and wrestling her into white tights. Once they were on, she put Charlotte into a chair and fastened a pair of shiny black soft-soled Mary Janes onto her feet.

"Mommy petty," Charlotte told her, looking at Maura's dress.

"Thank you!" said Maura. "We match now. We both have on red dresses."

"Uh huh," said Charlotte. She looked over at Jane. "Mama…" her voice trailed off as she realized Jane was the only person in the room not wearing a pretty dress.

"Sorry, I don't get to be pretty today," said Jane. "I have to help Uncle Frankie instead."

"I still think you're pretty," Maura assured her. "Mama's always pretty," she told Charlotte.

Charlotte tilted her head as Maura ran a comb through her hair. "Mama petty," she agreed politely.

Maura fastened a red bow in Charlotte's curls. "There, you're all ready. Come look at yourself."

Maura held Charlotte up to the mirror and Charlotte exclaimed, "I'm petty!"

" _So_ pretty," said Jane, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "Let me take your picture."

"Cheeeeeeese," Charlotte intoned, a big toothy grin plastered on her face. Jane snapped several pictures.

"Let me get one of all three of you," suggested Nina, reaching for Jane's phone. "You're such a cute little family."

"Someday you and Frankie will have your own beautiful family," said Maura after they'd posed for their picture. "You'll be wonderful parents."

"Frankie's so good with Charlotte and T.J.," Nina agreed. "He's going to be a great dad."

"The second you tie the knot, Ma's gonna be all over your case to give her grandkids," Jane warned her. "That's what she did to us. _Someone_ let slip that we wanted to have kids, and she would not stop dropping hints and asking questions. We weren't doing it fast enough for her."

"She cornered me," said Maura, her eyes wide. "She asked me before the wedding if we were going to have children, and I didn't know what to say!"

"I know, sweetie. That's just the kind of thing she does."

"We already told her we want one or two," said Nina. "We'll wait at least a few months after the wedding before we start trying, but we don't want to wait too long. We're not getting any younger, and we want them to be close enough in age to their cousins that they can all play together."

"Soon Ma's going to have more grandkids than she knows what to do with," said Jane, looking at her watch. "I've gotta go make sure Frankie's not getting cold feet. I'll see you beautiful ladies in a bit." She kissed Maura and Charlotte and headed down the hall to where the men were getting ready.

Fortunately, Frankie was not having cold feet (although he was a nervous wreck), so the wedding started on time. Jane walked out to the altar with Frankie, Tommy, and Korsak. She noticed Angela sitting in the pew directly in front of them, her eyes misty as she smiled proudly at Frankie, Charlotte's diaper bag at her side. Ron was next to her, Joann and her son on his other side. At the other end of the pew was Frank. He'd had the good sense not to bring whoever his current bimbo was and was seated with relatives from his side of the family instead. Jane made a point of not looking at him. She would not cause a scene at her little brother's wedding, but she hadn't spoken to him since before Charlotte was born, and she saw no reason to change that now. He didn't know about Eva unless someone else had told him, and she planned to keep it that way. He had made it clear that family was flesh and blood to him, and Eva was not his flesh and blood.

She didn't have time to worry about it, though, because the music was starting and five-year-old T.J. had appeared. He looked adorable in his little tuxedo, solemnly balancing his ring bearer pillow on his hands. The rings sewn onto the pillow were, of course, plastic facsimiles – Jane had the real ones in her pocket – but you wouldn't know it from his serious expression. Maura set Charlotte down beside him and handed her the basket, pointing to Jane at the other end of the aisle as she murmured something in her ear. T.J. took her hand and they began making their way down the aisle to a chorus of "awwws" from the audience. People who didn't even know them snapped pictures, and Charlotte flashed smiles at some of them, no doubt saying "cheeeese."

About halfway down the aisle, Charlotte decided she was done with the flower girl gig. She stopped in her tracks, wrenched her hand out of T.J.'s, and dumped the flowers out of her basket, then tossed the basket onto the ground. "Uh oh," she announced loudly. Jane stifled a laugh.

T.J., appalled at her behavior, picked up the basket and used his pillow to sweep the flowers back into it. Then he tried to recapture Charlotte's hand, but she wasn't having it. For one terrifying second, she appeared likely to go careering off in any given direction, but then her eyes fell on Jane. With a gleeful should of "Mama!" she took off running straight to Jane, who scooped her up and hugged her tight. T.J. walked up looking flustered and handed the basket to Jane, while Angela came over to collect both Charlotte and the basket and take them back to the pew. Jane caught a glimpse of her father watching Charlotte, but she tore her eyes away and focused instead on Maura coming down the aisle, carrying a small bouquet of white flowers, her eyes on Jane. She smiled brilliantly when Jane looked at her, a twinkle in her eyes that showed she was just as amused by Charlotte's antics as Jane was. A lump rose in Jane's throat as she remembered the last time she had seen Maura walk down an aisle – in that case, the aisle between field box seats at Fenway. She remembered feeling like her heart would explode as she watched Maura coming towards her, finally wearing that silk charmeuse wedding gown she'd dreamed of for years.

 _Damn pregnancy hormones_ , Jane thought, watching Maura walk to the other side of the altar, the bride's side. _I am_ not _going to cry at this wedding_.

She forced herself to refocus. Monica was coming down the aisle now, followed by Lisa, and then Nina. Then the ceremony began in earnest, and Jane's mind drifted right back to Fenway Park on May 17, 2014.

They had been lucky with the weather. It had rained early that morning, but by the time of the wedding there were just a few passing clouds. It was a bit windy, but still warm. A beautiful evening to be at the ballpark. There had been a game earlier in the day, which the Sox had lost (not that Jane had time to watch it anyway), but that was okay. Jane was still winning.

It was easy telling Maura she would always be there for her, that she would hold her and cherish her for the rest of her life no matter what happened. The words would have been true even if she hadn't said them aloud. She wasn't forsaking anything for Maura, because Maura was all she wanted anyway. They had already been through so much together that all the promises they had to make just seemed like a formality. Still, hearing Maura actually say it – being reminded that this amazing person genuinely wanted to spend the rest of her life with _her_ – had felt almost unreal. And Maura had looked her straight in the eyes as she said every word, the sweetest smile on her face. Maura couldn't lie. She really meant it, that Jane was the person she loved most, that she wanted only her forever.

Jane snapped back to the present when Frankie asked her for the rings. She quickly pulled them out of her pocket and handed them to the priest so he could bless them. There had been no priest to bless her and Maura's rings, but it didn't matter. Instead they had each engraved a message on the inside of the other's ring. She remembered holding Maura's ring in her fingers, feeling the leaf pattern engraved in the gold.

"When I got you this ring, I had trouble figuring out what to put on the inside," she had told Maura, loud enough for everyone to hear, although she tried not to think too much about the other people. "How could I possible explain why I love you in such a small space? And then I realized that was a stupid question. I can easily sum up what I love about you in just one word: _everything_. I love _everything_ about you. I say it all the time, and I know you don't always believe me, but it's true. I love your big brain and your even bigger heart and your Google mouth and every weird little quirk." Maura laughed, and Jane continued. "So I put that one word inside your ring, so you can have it against your skin for the rest of your life and remember that, no matter what anybody else says, _I_ love every tiny little thing about you."

She took Maura's left hand and positioned the ring at the end of her finger, remembering the old-fashioned vow Maura wanted them to say, even though Jane felt weird saying it in front of people. "With this ring, I thee wed. With my body, I thee worship. And with all my worldly goods I thee endow." Then she slid the ring to the base of Maura's finger, and just like that, Maura was hers. Officially. Permanently.

"I had trouble deciding what to put on yours as well," Maura had said, holding up Jane's ring. "And what I did put will probably seem very unoriginal to a lot of people. You are many things to me, but in your ring I simply put, 'my hero,' because you are, in every sense of the term. Not only have you saved me from harm on multiple occasions, including occasions when I would undeniably have died without your intervention, but you've saved me from the life I would have lived if you weren't in it. The life I _was_ living before I met you. It wasn't a miserable life, but it was hardly an ecstatic one, and that is how you make me feel every day: ecstatic. You have brought so much unimaginable joy into my life. You're also the bravest, most caring person I know, and you are most definitely a social deviant in all the best ways. I know you don't like to think of yourself as a hero, but I hope you can accept this lifelong reminder that I consider you to be mine." She had taken Jane's hand then, blinking back tears as she did so. "With this ring, I thee wed. With my body, I thee worship. And with all my worldly goods I thee endow." Then she slid the ring onto Jane's finger, and just like that, Jane was hers. Jane remembered seeing a single tear slip down Maura's face just before she kissed her, but she managed to control herself.

Unlike today, when she found herself standing with tears running down her face like a damn fool while Frankie and Nina kissed. She realized she'd been fingering her own wedding ring and not listening to a word of the ceremony. She turned towards the altar and tried to discreetly wipe her tears away, hoping no one had noticed. She turned back to see her mother crying openly while Charlotte patted her back reassuringly. Then the music started playing and Frankie and Nina went back up the aisle together while everyone cheered and applauded. Jane hung back, as planned, and let Tommy walk Lisa up the aisle while Korsak followed with Monica so she could walk with Maura.

Charlotte hopped down from her pew and ran towards them yelling "Mommy Mama!" Jane picked her up and linked her arm back through Maura's.

"Gamma sad," Charlotte told them worriedly.

"No baby, she's happy," Jane promised, although Charlotte looked highly dubious.

"I know you're probably embarrassed," Maura whispered into her ear, "but I think it's sweet that you cried at your brother's wedding."

"It's not my fault. Eva made me do it," Jane whispered back. "Anyway, I wasn't crying about this wedding. I was remembering _ours_."

"Oh, Jane!" Maura looked touched.

"Now don't get mushy or you're going to set me off again. These pregnancy hormones are no joke."

XXX

The only thing that sucked about being the best man instead of a bridesmaid was that Jane had to sit between her brothers at the wedding reception, while Maura was down at the other end of the table. But after dinner was over and Jane had given her speech about Nina being the first girlfriend of Frankie's their mom had ever approved of, people started getting up to dance and Maura came over to talk to Jane.

"Hey," said Jane. "I forgot how boring wedding receptions are when you can't drink."

"That's not true," Maura admonished her. "You're surrounded by all of your favorite people, and there's dancing. That's not boring."

Jane knew where this was leading. "I don't dance."

"Charlotte's dancing," Maura pointed out. It was true. Charlotte was out on the floor cutting a rug with T.J., and the photographer was taking about a thousand pictures, with good reason. It was the cutest thing ever.

"Yeah, well, Charlotte's 20 months old. The only way I would get out there is if I had a lot of alcohol in my system, which I can't right now, so you're out of luck."

"You danced at Susie's memorial service without being drunk."

"That was different. You were sad and I had to cheer you up."

"I might become sad if you don't dance with me."

"Well if that happens, let me know."

Maura was quiet a moment. "I bet Tommy will dance with me."

"Now, see, you did _not_ have to go there. That's stooping very low."

Maura laughed, tilting her head in her adorable way, and Jane caved in, begrudgingly putting her hands in Maura's and letting Maura pull her from the chair.

They never got to dance, though, because Jane saw something that outraged her the second they got to the floor. Frank was kneeling in front of Charlotte and T.J., Charlotte's tiny hand between his thumb and forefinger, talking to her as though they had an established relationship. Jane immediately dropped Maura's hand and stormed over there, lifting Charlotte into her arms.

"Hey baby girl," she said, not wanting to scare her. "Do you want to come dance with me and Mommy?"

"Yeah," said Charlotte, looking slightly confused.

"Why do you have to be like that?" said Frank, standing up. "She's my granddaughter. I just want to get to know her. Why do you have to keep her from me?"

"You already know why, Pop," said Jane evenly. "She doesn't need to be part of this drama."

"You kids are all pieces of work, you know that? The only grandkids I have are illegitimate. I move away and you all go against everything we ever taught you. You turn into a lesbian, Tommy marries my ex-fiancée and then divorces her, and Frankie marries a—"

"A what, Pop?" Frankie asked quietly. Jane turned to see her brother standing beside her, and Tommy was also making his way towards them. Maura looked frightened, but when Jane beckoned she came over to take Charlotte and get her away from the confrontation. Jane couldn't leave yet, however, because it was no longer just about her.

"I don't mean anything bad," Frank insisted. "Nina's a lovely woman. It's just, where I come from, you can be friends with anyone, but people _marry_ their own kind. I'm sure her parents feel the same way."

"What century do you think this is, Pop?" Tommy asked.

"Look, I'm not being racist, I mean I'm here, aren't I?"

"Not for much longer," said Frankie. "You need to leave now."

"What?"

"Leave. Now. In one breath, you just insulted my wife, my little niece and nephew, my sister, and my brother. I don't know if you had too much to drink or what your problem is, but this is _my_ wedding, Pop. You can't be here if you're going to act like that."

"Frankie, you're overreacting. I didn't mean anything by what I said."

"He _said_ leave," Jane said harshly. "There are at least a dozen cops in this place, Pop. If you won't walk out on your own, we can walk you out."

Frank looked around in disbelief. Korsak and several officers were standing behind them now, arms folded. Even Ron looked ready to do battle.

"I hope you're happy with yourself," Frank said to Angela as he turned to leave. "I don't even recognize these kids anymore."

XXX

"It was a lovely wedding," Maura remarked on the way home. "It was a shame about your dad, but everyone did a good job of getting the celebration going again after he left."

"We were just determined to enjoy ourselves in spite of him. We couldn't let him ruin Frankie's wedding."

"At least you finally danced with me! And I think the photographer got some good shots of us together, on our own and with Charlotte. I'm going to buy prints as soon as I can."

"Get some giant ones. We can hang them in the foyer where everyone will see them as soon as they walk in the house."

Maura paused. "He's just very old-fashioned."

"He called Charlotte illegitimate."

"I know."

"Even if I didn't think that was a ridiculously offensive and outdated term, we were _married_ when we had her."

"Yes."

"But he doesn't think it counts."

"My biological parents were never married, so I would be illegitimate in his eyes as well."

"Which is why it's such a stupid term. There's no such thing as legitimate and illegitimate human beings."

"I agree with you."

"And it doesn't sound like he's going to be that accepting of Frankie and Nina's kids either. It just makes me that much more confident about my decision to keep him away from our family, though. I never want him around Eva. I remember what you told me, about your grandparents not treating you like part of the family because you were adopted. I'm not letting him do that to Eva. She's never going to feel the way you had to feel. I'm surrounding her only with people who love her and accept her."

Maura looked at her. "You're a good mom."

"I'm trying to be." Jane pulled into their garage and parked the car. Charlotte was out cold in her car seat, so Jane lifted her out very carefully and carried her into the house. Working together, she and Maura managed to change her into her pajamas and get her into her crib without waking her up.

"Well, we're both tired and a bit emotionally drained, so I understand if you want to go straight to sleep," Maura said as they walked into their bedroom. "But I still think you look incredibly sexy."

Jane looked down at her beautiful, hopeful wife and smiled. "I think I have just enough energy left for this."

Maura lit up. Jane pulled her into her arms and kissed her deeply, running her fingers through her hair. "You may not have been the bride, but you were still the most beautiful woman at the wedding," she murmured, kissing Maura's face all over. "You're the most beautiful woman at every wedding." She eased her towards the bed. "Actually, you're the most beautiful woman wherever you go." Maura giggled as Jane lay her down on the bed and took off her shoes. Jane slowly slid her hands up Maura's skirt, sliding them along her smooth legs. "Hmm, these feel freshly shaved. You were planning for this, weren't you?"

Maura nodded. "I've been fantasizing about this ever since I took you tuxedo shopping."

"Mmm. You always wanted to be fucked by a lady in a tuxedo?" Her hands reached Maura's thighs and moved to the insides, slowing their ascent.

Maura nodded, her eyes on Jane, biting her lip in anticipation.

Jane pushed Maura's skirt up more. "These long dresses are kinda tricky, although I guess I can't complain about this one. Your wedding dress had so many layers and shit I thought I was _never_ going to strike gold." She knelt on the bed between Maura's legs, finally getting the skirt high enough to access her panties, and was immediately hit with the scent of her arousal. "Damn, woman, you weren't kidding about being wet."

"I told you I was getting wet just looking at you! I've been like this all night!"

Jane grinned and slid Maura's panties off, dropping them onto the floor. She stroked the inside of Maura's thigh, taking a moment to admire the sparkling wet, swollen pussy that was being offered to her. _She's this wet for_ _ME_ , she thought in wonder, her mouth watering. She began kissing her way up the inside of Maura's thigh, very slowly, letting the anticipation build.

"Knowing you're pregnant makes you even sexier," said Maura. "It's been a bit of a turn on for me ever since it happened."

"Yeah?" Jane said in between kisses, getting closer and closer to the prize. "So you like me pregnant, but you also like me in a tux?"

"Yes, I – mmm – I've always found your unique blend of masculine and feminine traits extremely sexy. It's – oh Jane – it's why I consider you to be the most attractive person I've ever met."

Jane smiled inwardly at the compliment, but her mouth was busy doing other things. She'd finally made it to her destination and was flicking her tongue in and out, touching Maura everywhere but where she most wanted it. This teasing was hard on both of them, but it was always worth it in the end. It would make Maura wetter and wetter, and she would come hard when Jane finally did give her what she wanted.

When Maura started to squirm and try to thrust herself into Jane's mouth, Jane finally allowed herself to fully taste Maura's juices, to drink them in. She couldn't believe there was ever a time when she had worried that eating pussy would be gross. She loved the taste of Maura. If the doctor told her she had to go on an all-Maura diet for the rest of her life, she wouldn't mind at all. She slid her tongue in and out of Maura, listening to her soft cries of pleasure, keeping a grip on her rocking hips just as Maura kept a grip on her head, fingers tangled deep in Jane's hair. This was pure bliss. _With my body, I thee worship._

Finally, she decided it was time to go in for the kill. She moved her tongue to Maura's clit and licked hard, sliding her fingers deep inside of her. "Oh Jane," Maura gasped as Jane increased the pressure of both fingers and tongue. "Oh, Jane. Oh, _Jane! JAAAAANE_!"

She was so loud on that last note that Jane checked the baby monitor as soon as she came up for air to make sure Charlotte was still asleep in her crib. She was, so Jane dragged herself to her pillow and collapsed, trying to catch her breath. She could feel Maura's wetness on her face, but she didn't mind one bit.

Maura rolled over on top of her. "Now it's time to get you out of this tux." She began unbuttoning the jacket.

"So you like it on me, but you can't wait to get it back off."

"Correct." She slid the jacket off and set to work on the bow tie, peppering Jane's face and neck with kisses as she did so.

"Can you take your dress off too?"

"Oh, sure." She rolled over. "Unzip me."

As Jane reached for the zipper, her mind flashed back to a day several years ago when Maura had said the same words to her in her office. At the time Jane had not believed she would ever have a shot with Maura, and at first she thought she'd heard her wrong. Maura had had no erotic purpose in mind that day, but tonight Jane got to watch her emerge from her bridesmaid dress, unhook her bra, and then lie back down with her naked body pressed against Jane.

"You're wet now too," said Maura, touching Jane through her pants. "I can feel it. You've soaked through your pants."

"Damn. And they're dry clean only, aren't they?"

Maura laughed. "It'll be okay." She began unbuttoning Jane's shirt.

"There would be something wrong with me if I wasn't wet after everything we've done so far," Jane pointed out. She made no effort to help with her undressing other than lifting her body when necessary, like right now when Maura pulled the shirt the rest of the way off, because she knew Maura had been looking forward to this part.

"Your breasts have gotten quite a bit bigger," Maura noted approvingly as she removed Jane's bra.

"You like them?"

"Oh yes."

"They hurt though."

"I'll be gentle." Maura lightly cupped a swollen tit in each hand, running her tongue very softly over each one in turn. Her lips touched Jane's left nipple and then gently began to suck. Jane moaned softly, running her fingers through Maura's hair and down her back. Maura deftly undid Jane's pants and eased them down, grabbed her underwear and pulled that down too. Once Jane was fully naked, Maura took her place between her legs with an eager smile. She planted a loving kiss on the spot where Eva resided before moving downward. Her tongue moved all over Jane's cunt, doing figure eights, lapping up Jane's juices as Jane had done to her. Then, without warning, she took Jane's clit into her mouth and began sucking so hard it left Jane breathless.

"Maura," she said softly, slipping her fingers into silky hair. "Oh, Maura, you are so fucking good at this." She really was. Even the first time they'd been together, she had easily made Jane come – the first time another person had ever done so – and she swore that she'd never been with a woman before, but still understood what needed to be done in order to bring one to orgasm. The stress of the evening seemed to melt away as Maura worked her with tongue, and then fingers as well, until Jane came hard.

"So, I kind of really love you a lot," Jane remarked when they were lying side by side, chests heaving.

"You might have mentioned that before," Maura said with a smile. She slid into Jane's arms, where she had always fit so perfectly. "I kind of really love you a lot too."

"Mm. I suspected as much." Jane closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of Maura's hair as she drifted off to sleep.

XXX

"Jane. Jane, wake up. He's been to our house."

"What?" Jane's eyes flew open. Maura's bedside lamp was still on and she was sitting up in bed, holding one of her science journals.

"Not _in_ our house, but _at_ our house." She held up her magazine, panic in her eyes. "My new issue of the _Journal of Forensic Sciences_ came in the mail three days ago. I hadn't had a chance to open it yet, but I couldn't sleep, so I decided to read that article I've been looking forward to, about nitrate and nitrite determination in gunshot residue samples by capillary electrophoresis in acidic run buffer."

" _What?_ "

"But when I started reading, _this_ fell out of the pages." She thrust a napkin at Jane. It was just a plain white napkin, the kind they handed out at fast food restaurants, and across it was scrawled:

 _YOU'RE NOT FOOLING ANYONE._

"Oh, no, Maura." She pushed herself into a sitting position. "This is definitely the same handwriting as the first note."

"Yes. They must have stuck it in there while the magazine was in the mailbox. We were probably at work. Your mom might have been here with Charlotte, but she takes her on outings sometimes, and even if they were home they might not have noticed someone putting something in the mailbox." She shuddered. "I hope they weren't home. I don't want this person that close to Charlotte."

"I don't want them that close to _you_ either, but they put the first note in your purse."

"Yes, but this is worse. This means they know where we live. Jane, _they've been to our house_."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Maura stared helplessly at the new body on the table. This one had been tied to a tree, like the first two, but while those had been tied in a sitting position, this one had been standing in a poor imitation of the Aphrodite pose Dennis Rockmond's victims had been found in. She had _not_ been turned into a statue. Clearly, their killer didn't have the talent for that. But her arms had been cut off, and her throat had been slit. This meant a slight change in MO since this killer usually strangled his victims, likely enjoying the feeling of life leaving their bodies. Dennis Rockmond, however, had threatened to cut Maura's throat open, and the killer clearly knew that. The young blonde woman on her table had suffered something resembling the fate Maura would have suffered without Jane's intervention.

"I'm sorry," Maura whispered to the dead woman, although she knew she couldn't hear her. She tried to tell herself that the killer was clearly unhinged, that he would have found some reason to kill even if he hadn't decided to terrorize her and Jane for whatever reason. But this woman probably would not be dead, right now, in this way, if it weren't for her. She wished she knew what she had done to make this person hate her so much.

"Hey," said Jane, striding into the room. "Have you learned anything yet?"

Maura shook her head. "I haven't started the autopsy. I'm waiting for Kent."

"Since when do you have to wait for Kent?"

"I want him to take the lead on this one, since I'm being targeted."

Jane nodded her understanding. "We're both being targeted."

"It feels a little more focused on me though."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, the killings and articles so far have alternated between people who primarily attacked me, and people who primarily attacked you. But the notes were both given to me. One was in my purse, and the other was in my science journal."

"They didn't specifically mention you, though. Maybe he's just had an easier time getting at your things. Maybe he slipped the first one in your purse while you were in line at a checkout counter or something, and when he put the note in our mailbox, your magazine just happened to be there. I don't carry a purse, and I'm not subscribed to any magazines."

"Maybe," Maura agreed.

"What I don't understand is, if he has it in for us, why not just come after us? Why kill people who sort of resemble us?"

"It seems like they're trying to destroy us psychologically first, like Hoyt did. I would be surprised if the endgame didn't involve targeting us directly."

"So we gotta find him before he gets to the endgame."

Maura nodded, looking down at the newest victim. "It would be even better if we could find him before he kills again."

"That would be ideal, yes."

"He kills people who are much younger than us, though." Maura frowned. "He's showing a definite preference for women who are the right age to be in college. Do you suppose that means he's that age?"

"It's definitely possible. The question is, if he prefers young women, would he attack us?"

"If he has a big enough grudge against us, yes. Did you find a possible ID?"

Jane nodded, pulling something up on her tablet. "Victoria Anderson. She was only eighteen. She was reported missing yesterday."

"Eighteen? She should have had her whole life ahead of her!"

"I know. She's a BCU freshmen. She was supposed to babysit a couple kids who live in the neighborhood girls keep disappearing from. Her roommate says she left their dorm to catch the bus, but the parents of the kids she was going to babysit say she never showed up. Bus driver says he let her off in that neighborhood, but she just never made it to the house. It's the exact same bus stop we've already been focusing on."

"Not everyone involved was going to or from the bus stop, though."

"No. But our killer must be lurking near the bus stop, and he must be an integral part of the neighborhood since no one notices him. Most of the people on that block have alibis for at least one of the murders, and some of them wouldn't have been capable of it. It has to be an able-bodied man." She thought for a moment. "I mean, we had a case once where a woman was raped with a, you know, a dildo? By another woman? Could that be possible this time?"

Maura sighed. "Well, in the case you're thinking of, the rape was done postmortem. These were done antemortem, and the bruising on the thighs does imply that her attacker was actually on top of her, forcing her legs apart."

"I'm sorry, Maura. That was a stupid question."

"Not stupid at all. You have to look at every angle. But the forensic evidence, or lack thereof, at the previous crime scenes did indicate that the victims were killed somewhere else and then transported to the Charles River, so we're looking at someone who has the ability to do that. I suppose two women working together _could_ do it, if one was wearing a strap-on phallus and the other helped her move the body afterwards. But the question is, why would they want to?"

"It was just a thought," said Jane. "Our only people with no alibis for any of the murders are an eccentric single lady and a 90-year-old man who can barely walk even _with_ a walker."

"Have you confirmed that he is genuinely disabled?"

"Yes. He couldn't have done this even _with_ help."

"Then you might want to keep looking at people who don't live in the neighborhood. Is there an article yet?"

"Yeah. The _Boston Globe_ was looking out for it, so this time they caught it the minute it appeared and took it back down. They emailed a screenshot to Nina."

"Is it on your tablet?"

"Yes," Jane said hesitantly.

"May I read it?"

"I don't see what good it would do."

"It's about me, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's more lies."

"I would still like to read it."

Jane hesitantly handed over the tablet. "No one saw it," she assured her.

"Well even if they had, it couldn't easily be more damaging than the one people did see." Maura opened the article.

SET IN STONE

 _The doomed romance between chief medical examiner Maura Isles and serial killer Dennis Rockmond_

By Iambic Chino Kind

 _Maura Isles first met bestselling author, motivational speaker, and artist Dennis Rockmond (real name Mark Dugan) when he collapsed from an Inderal overdose and, having been presumed dead, was brought to the morgue. Isles realized he was still alive and was able to resuscitate him long enough for emergency help to arrive. After making a full recovery, Rockmond returned to show his gratitude to Isles, and the two began a sexual relationship that lasted for three months._

 _What Isles didn't know – or refused to acknowledge – was that Rockmond was a serial killer who preyed on prostitutes, torturing and killing them before turning them into Venus do Milo statues, which he then left in prominent locations. On his 36th birthday, he took Maura to his apartment and raped her, intending to kill her as well. Fortunately for her, Detectives Vince Korsak and Barry Frost figured out Rockmond was the killer they were looking for and rushed to his apartment with Detective Jane Rizzoli, Isles' lesbian lover, in tow. They were able to save Isles from harm, and Rockmond reportedly jumped down an elevator shaft to his death, although it seems more likely that a jealous Rizzoli pushed him to his death and the others decided to cover for her._

 _Why, you might ask, would Rockmond target Isles when his other victims were prostitutes? Police reports say he chose her because of her role in saving his life after his overdose, but with her spotty dating history, it's likely that he saw her as little more than an unpaid whore. This history includes relationships with convicted killer Garrett Fairfield and serial killer Jared Nielson, as well as a flirtation with Charles Hoyt and a lengthy non-monogamous relationship with former BPD detective Jane Rizzoli._

Maura hurriedly handed the tablet back to Jane, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. "Unpaid whore?"

"He's a bad guy, Maura. You can't take anything he says seriously."

"He said…he said I had a relationship with…"

"I know, honey. We've already established that he doesn't have a good handle on the difference between rape and sex. I mean, he said that Hoyt raped me and that I then began a relationship with him. He probably thinks he's had relationships with all the women he's raped and murdered."

Maura nodded. "He also said Dennis raped me, which he didn't. He didn't rape any of his victims. I didn't sleep with him, either."

"I know. He's blurring the lines between his own kills and the ones he's imitating."

Maura took a deep breath. "Well, based on what we've seen, I feel confident saying that we are dealing with an extreme misogynist. Did you notice how he completely downplayed your role in saving me from Dennis? He did that in the first article as well, and he said you killed Hoyt in a jealous rage when he was too sick to pose a threat. He refuses to acknowledge that you could have done something heroic."

"Yeah, and he talked about your 'role' in saving Dennis's life. You totally saved his life. It turned out to be worthless, but still, you saved it."

"A man who hates women this much probably _would_ attack someone outside of his sexual preference if he felt she deserved it." Maura shuddered. "We can't let him get close to us again."

"I know."

Maura shuddered again as a horrible thought struck her. "What if the things he's doing to these victims are all the things he plans to do to us when he gets us?"

"Well he's not _going_ to get us." Jane crossed to Maura and put her arms around her. "He's not going to touch you. I won't let him."

For just a second, Maura relaxed a little. She would be safe as long as Jane was close to her. People had tried, but no one had ever seriously hurt her when Jane was around. But then she tensed again. "No, you can't protect me this time!"

Jane frowned. "Why not?"

"You're not in any condition for that! Your biggest priority right now is keeping Eva safe. _I_ have to protect _you_."

"But it's my job to protect you."

"No, we look after each other. That's what married couples do. But right now, you need more looking after than I do."

Jane heaved a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Now let's go back to what you said a minute ago. This guy downplays everything I do, makes it sound like the guys are always the ones doing the heroics, then claims I kill people unnecessarily."

"And he said he thought you went after Hoyt alone all those years ago because you wanted to prove a female cop could do more than a male cop. He could be someone who doesn't believe women should be in law enforcement."

"He probably doesn't think women should be chief medical examiners either. Maybe it's another Alice Sands thing. Maybe there's some cop or former cop who thinks I've held him back in some way, and he's doing this to make me look bad."

"But you've already left BPD."

"Maybe it's not about ruining my career. Maybe it's…I don't know what it's about yet, but I'm going to go tell the others about what you said. We need to look at current and former cops who may be connected to me in some way. We should also look at people I've put away or killed, because it could also be someone who's connected to someone I caught."

"But it's not just about you. They're leaving us notes that say our life isn't perfect, that we're not fooling anyone. And as you said, it's not clear yet whether those notes are aimed at both of us or only me."

Jane looked thoughtful. "The notes do feel more personal than the articles, don't they?"

"Yes. The dead bodies are being put on display, and the articles are posted on the _Boston Globe_ site where anyone can read them. The notes have been hand delivered to me, and so far they haven't coincided with the murders."

"That is strange," Jane said uneasily. "I suppose the point of the articles is to show the world how imperfect our lives really are. He thinks we're imposters, that we shouldn't be in the jobs we have, that our relationship can't be as good as we've made it look. Hand-delivering the notes is probably supposed to put us on edge. Putting one in your purse shows he's been close to you. Putting one in our mailbox shows he knows where we live. He just wants to unsettle us."

"It's working." Maura forced her breath to come more evenly. "So far, they haven't given any indication that they would hurt children."

"No, and hopefully he draws the line there, but we can't be too careful. I've got Ma carrying pepper spray in her purse now."

"Have you made any progress with the anagram yet?"

"We put it through a server, but those things aren't the best when you're trying to find names. We'll probably have to do it long hand." She widened her eyes dramatically. "If only we knew some kind of genius, someone who figures things out faster than a normal person. Wouldn't it be great if we had someone like that working here?"

Maura rolled her eyes. "I'll work on it."

"You're the best. I'll catch you later!" Seeing no one around, Jane gave Maura a quick kiss before going back upstairs.

Soon Kent arrived and began the autopsy. Maura supervised from across the room, working on the anagram as she did so.

"Did they post another article?" Kent asked her.

"Yes, another article with only a little truth in it. Aside from believing that Jane and I have had sexual relationships with the men who have tried to kill us, they also believe I've been in a relationship with Jane as long as I've known her and that we've both been sleeping with men – usually men who are killers – while we've been together."

"It doesn't sound like they know you that well then."

"No, they don't. They really don't." She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "I wonder if he really believes the things he's saying, or if he's only saying it to provoke us."

"It would take a lot of provoking to make _you_ do something stupid, but you might want to keep Detective Rizzoli on a short leash."

Maura erased her latest anagram attempt and started over. "I've reminded her that she has to be extremely careful, because she has a baby to protect right now."

"How is she doing with the pregnancy?"

"Quite well. She's feeling a lot better now that she's in the second trimester. I took her shopping for maternity clothes last weekend. She hates shopping, but she's starting to show a little and her pants don't fit anymore, so it had to be done. I'm trying to find a prenatal exercise class she'll be willing to take. She doesn't really like that sort of thing, especially if I can't be there with her, but it would help her to recover faster when she gives birth."

"I don't envy you the job of getting _that_ woman through a pregnancy."

"She usually does what I say, even if she has to grumble about it. And after years of listening to her grumble about stuff, I think I'd miss it if she ever stopped."

"You are truly a saint, Dr. Isles."

She drew in her breath, looking at her paper. "I think I've figured it out. I have to go tell Jane!" She jumped up and ran to the elevator.

"Maura," Jane said in surprise when she came barreling into the squad room. "Did you find something in autopsy?"

"I solved the anagram!"

"Okay, what does it say?"

"Dominick Bianchi!"

"Dominick? But he didn't try to kill either of us. And he's not dead, either."

"No, but he kidnapped you." Maura glanced involuntarily towards the BRIC, remembering the agonizing moments she spent watching a live feed of Jane as she lay spread-eagled on a bed exactly like her own, wearing clothes that were nothing like her own.

Jane groaned. "I can only imagine what _that_ article will say."

"He really is alternating between people who attacked Maura and people who attacked Jane," said Frankie.

"So he has a problem with both of us," said Maura.

"Possibly," agreed Jane. "But think of all the people before who hated me and still went after you. Hoyt only wanted to kill me, but he decided to kill you in front of me because he knew it would destroy me. Hawthorne wanted me for himself, so he poisoned you to get you out of the way. And Alice Sands had it in for me, had nothing against you at all, but she had you kidnapped and planned to have you killed to get at me. Everyone knows hurting you hurts me."

"And vice versa," Maura said quietly. "So far, he's made no mention of Charlotte though."

"He fucking better not mention her!"

"I agree," said Maura, feeling pained at the very thought. "But it worries me. If someone really wanted to hurt both of us, they wouldn't need to know very much about us to know that would be the way to do it."

XXX

Maura tried to push her growing unease out of her head that weekend. She had much more important things to worry about, like taking Charlotte to have her picture taken with a department store Santa. She had been agonizing for weeks over what to have her wear, but had finally settled on a red silk dress with a hand-smocked bodice, a velvet headband with a red and white bow, and gold leather Mary Janes.

"Wow, look at you," said Jane, poking her head into Charlotte's room while Maura buttoned up the back of the dress. Charlotte was busy stuffing a rubber giraffe named Sophie into a little cloth house that said " _Sophie la girafe_ " on the front.

"What do you think of the dress?" Maura asked Jane, putting Charlotte into one of the little chairs at her play table so she could Velcro her shoes on.

"I think she's going to be the best-dressed kid Santa sees today."

"Do you like the shoes with the dress? I thought about using the silver ones instead. She also has black and red Mary Janes."

"I know. The kids going to need her own shoe closet soon if you don't learn to control yourself." Jane shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "The gold shoes look just fine. I'll meet you downstairs."

Maura carefully combed Charlotte's dark curls, which just reached her shoulders now in the back. She put the headband on her and stepped back to admire her work.

"Oh, Charlotte, you're so beautiful," she said softly. "I just love you so much."

Charlotte smiled, tilting her head. "I love you, Mommy."

Maura scooped the little girl up in her arms and hugged her tightly, kissing her soft cheek. _If anyone tries to lay a finger on this child, I will kill him with my bare hands,_ she thought fiercely.

XXX

Charlotte's pictures with Santa went off without a hitch. She managed to keep her headband on and her dress neat long enough for them to get through the line, and her habit of saying "cheese" every time she saw a camera meant that she had a big dimpled smile in each shot. When the pictures were done, the three of them set off to do some Christmas shopping. Charlotte walked between her mothers, holding both of their hands so they could lift her up and swing her every few steps.

"Next year, we'll be here with two little girls," Maura remarked happily. "Charlotte will be two and a half, and Eva will be about six months."

"I bet they'll look adorable on Santa's lap together," Jane said with a smile.

"I can get them matching dresses!"

"Matching dresses are the reason I'm glad I don't have a sister."

Maura laughed, eyeing Jane's subtle bump. "She should be about four, maybe four and a half inches long now. Her facial muscles should be developing, and her organs starting to function."

"Really? It's crazy to think about all that happening when she's so tiny."

"That's why pregnancy is so fascinating! The baby goes from a single cell to a complex, fully formed newborn human in such a short amount of time." Maura realized Jane had ground to a halt beside her and looked up to see Casey Jones in front of them.

"Jane," he said. "Maura. It's been a while."

"I was sort of hoping to keep it that way," Jane muttered.

"You both look well," said Casey, ignoring Jane's comments. "This must be your little one. What's her name?"

"Charlotte," Jane said reluctantly.

"Charlotte," Casey repeated, getting down on the toddler's level. "You are the very picture of your mother, Charlotte. May I shake your hand?"

"No," said Charlotte, drawing back and holding tighter to her mothers' hands.

"Looks like you have your mother's personality as well." Casey stood up. "Did I hear you say there's another one on the way?"

"Considering that you didn't think I should bring this one into the world, I don't see any reason why I should discuss our plans for future children with you," Jane told him firmly, though Maura saw her unconsciously touching her bump. "I don't really think we have anything left to say to each other, and my wife and I have shopping to do."

"Not a problem. I just thought I'd say hello." Casey stepped back to let them go by. "Charlotte is beautiful," he said before walking away.

"Don't like it," said Charlotte, her new phrase for anything that troubled her.

"I don't like it either," said Jane. "But he's gone now. He won't bother us anymore. Do you want to look at toys?"

"Yes!" said Charlotte, and the three of them headed into the toy section, where Maura took careful note of what Charlotte gravitated towards.

"I can't believe we ran into Casey," Jane groaned. "And when our daughter was with us!"

"At least he was easy to get rid of. I think Charlotte picked up on how tense we were, though."

"I was proud of her for refusing to shake his hand," said Jane with a smile. "I think she's a smart little girl."

"I'll certainly never discourage her from trusting her instincts." Maura watching fondly while Charlotte pulled a rag doll down from a shelf. "I'd like to buy some of her presents while we're here, but I can't do it with her watching."

"There was something I wanted to check out for you. Want me to take her and meet you back here in a few?"

"Yes, that would be great!" Maura waited while Jane led Charlotte away and then went around to the things the little girl had been most attracted to, deciding which ones were worth purchasing. When her hands were full, she asked a cashier to hold onto her collection and then headed back into the depths of the toy department in search of something in particular. Finally she found it: a large floor puzzle in the shape of the human body. It showed bones on one side and organs on the other, and it would be a little larger than Charlotte when put together. Maura thought it would be an excellent tool for teaching her the names of bones and organs.

"It's funny," said a voice behind her as she was picking up the box. "I don't know if you realize it, but you're living my life."

Maura whirled around to see Casey blocking her way. Her heart started pounding.

"Who am I kidding? Of course you realize it," he said. "You have everything that was supposed to be mine. Jane should have been my wife by now. That little girl who looks like her should be my daughter. She should be pregnant with my child."

Maura looked around, but no one else was nearby. "Jane didn't want to be with you," she said, struggling to keep her voice steady. "If she had wanted that, she _would_ be with you."

"I know it's my own fault. I pushed her away when she wanted to be there for me." He smiled grimly at Maura. "But you, you saw your chance. You took everything that should have been mine. You are living _my life_."

Maura groped in her purse for her phone, wondering if she could manage to call Jane without tipping him off. "Jane actually made the first move. She wanted to be with me." She slipped the phone quickly from her purse to her coat pocket and tried to type in her passcode without looking. "When you told her about the surgery, I was afraid she would leave me to be with you, but I wasn't going to try to stop her. I told her I would understand, that I would still be her friend no matter what. But she said she had no feelings for you anymore. She only wanted me."

"She couldn't have made the first move on you. Jane was never like that."

"She suppressed it for a long time, but—"

"You never wanted her to be with me, did you?"

Maura gave up on trying to operate the phone in her pocket. "I didn't think you deserved her, but I encouraged her to pursue you anyway, because I thought it would make her happy. Now please let me go."

"Maura?" She was intensely relieved to hear Jane's voice nearby, although she couldn't see her yet.

"Jane!" she called, realizing she was shaking. Jane came into view carrying a small bag, Charlotte at her side. She took in the sight before her: Maura, cornered and frightened, with Casey standing in front of her.

"Maura," she said evenly, "could you take Charlotte out of earshot, please?"

Judging from the look on Jane's face, she was likely about to let loose a whole string of words Charlotte shouldn't hear. Maura hastily put back the puzzle, scooped up her daughter, and hurried to the down escalator.

"Mama mad," said Charlotte, wrapping her arms around Maura's neck.

"Yes, she is," Maura admitted, her mind racing. Should she have left Jane alone with Casey? She'd never thought he was dangerous, but his behavior just now made her wonder.

"I'm mad," Charlotte said fiercely.

"Why are you mad?"

"Mean man. Don't like it!"

Maura hugged her tight. "It's okay. You're safe. Mama will make the man go away."

Charlotte turned herself sideways in Maura's arms, wanting to nurse in order to calm her nerves. Maura looked for the nearest ladies' room and sat on the couch inside, sending Jane a quick text to let her know where they were before pushing the phone back into her coat pocket. She looked up in relief when Jane came into the room a few minutes later.

"Hey," she said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"What exactly did he do? Did he threaten you?"

"No, he just said I'm living his life, that you should be his wife and Charlotte should be his daughter." A shiver went down her spine at the thought.

Charlotte lifted her head. "Mama!" she said, reaching for Jane. Maura fastened her shirt back up, hoping the experience hadn't traumatized the child.

"But he didn't try to hurt you?"

"No, he just…scared me. I had a bunch of toys picked out for Charlotte. I left most of them with the cashier."

"It's okay. We can go back up and pay for them. He's gone now."

Maura felt a little calmer once they had all their purchases and got out of the store without further incident. As they got in the car, she reached in her coat pocket to retrieve her phone and realized there was something else in there. A piece of paper.

Heart pounding again, she pulled out the paper, read it, and showed it to Jane:

 _JANE DOESN'T LOVE YOU._

"You found that in your coat just now?" Jane asked.

Maura nodded. Jane took out her phone and started dialing.

"Who are you calling?" Maura asked.

"Frankie. I'm gonna tell him to bring Casey in for questioning."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jane watched through the one-way glass as Frankie took out pictures of the dead women one by one and laid them on the table in front of Casey. Even in her anger, she couldn't help feeling proud. Her brother's mannerisms were just like hers. He had been watching her all these years.

"I don't understand why you're showing me these," said Casey, his face expressionless.

"Do you recognize any of these women?"

"No. Should I?"

"Does the name Jared Nielson mean anything to you?"

"No."

"What about Charles Hoyt?"

"Yes. He's the man who hurt Jane."

"Do you remember what he did to her?"

"He stabbed her hands. She has scars."

"Did she ever tell you about what he normally did to his victims?"

"She mentioned that he normally attacked couples. I don't remember her going into specifics."

"Do you know who Dennis Rockmond is?"

"No, I don't believe I do."

"Dominick Bianchi?"

"The name sounds familiar, but I'm not sure where I've heard it."

Jane let out her breath. Her gut said he was telling the truth.

"What did you mean when you told Maura Isles that she's living your life?"

He chuckled mirthlessly. "Five years ago, I had a potentially very dangerous surgery done because I couldn't properly be with the woman I loved without it. All I wanted was to marry Jane and have children with her, and I truly believe if I hadn't been hurt that she would be my wife now, that she would have my children. But now Jane is living the life I had planned, only with Maura in my place."

"That would make me pretty angry."

"It doesn't make me angry. A bit bewildered perhaps. The Jane I know is heterosexual. I'm not sure how she ended up with a woman."

"Do you blame Maura for that?"

Casey shrugged. "I suppose in part. She must have persuaded Jane in some way to try this kind of lifestyle. But I also blame myself for not being there when she needed me, for expecting her to wait. Clearly she believed I wasn't going to give her what she wanted out of life, and Maura did offer to give it to her. I was selfish. If I hadn't kept my distance, none of this would have happened."

"Asshole," Jane muttered under her breath as Maura quietly slipped into the room with her.

"How's the interrogation going?" Maura asked.

"He's cooperating, but it sounds like he genuinely doesn't know anything about the murders. Frankie's still getting to the notes."

Maura nodded. "We couldn't get any prints from the note other than yours and mine. The partial we found on the first note doesn't match Casey's. Do you remember what his handwriting looked like?"

Jane shook her head. "He wrote me a few letters when he was deployed, but I threw them out when I moved in with you. I don't remember what his writing was like."

"It's possible the note was in my pocket for days. It's like the purse note. It could have taken me a while to notice it."

"That makes twice that the killer or someone connected to the killer has been close enough to touch you, and we don't even know when or where it happened. Maura, I'm not doing my job."

"I'm safe, aren't I?"

"For now." Jane looked at her wife, her heart seizing. How was she failing so hard at protecting her?

"So, between you and me, do you think Jane actually loves Maura?" Frankie was asking.

"I know better than to think anything said here is only between the two of us," said Casey, "and I'm not sure why you're asking, but I have no doubt that Jane loves Maura very much. I think she always has. She may have mistaken the love of a friend for romantic love, but I am sure her love for Maura, whatever form it takes, is genuine. Now can you tell me why you need to know my opinion on the matter?"

"Earlier today, you confronted Dr. Isles in a store to tell her that she is living the life you think should be yours. As she was leaving the store, she discovered a note in her pocket that said 'Jane doesn't love you.' It's the third note like that she's gotten."

"So you think _I've_ been giving her these notes?"

"Have you?"

"Today was the first time I'd seen Maura in about two years. It wouldn't have even occurred to me to write her a note. I'm usually more direct if I have something to say."

Jane shook her head. "He didn't do any of it. I'm sorry, Maura. I wanted this to be over."

"I didn't really want it to be him," said Maura. "I've dated killers before, but you haven't. I didn't want that to change."

"You can't say it doesn't bother you, to see your sister settling for this, to see your niece growing up this way," Casey was saying.

Fed up, Jane stormed out before Maura could stop her and charged into the interrogation room. "Look, you son of a bitch. Maybe you had nothing to do with the killings and the notes, but you still threatened my family. You fucking followed my wife when she was shopping for our child's Christmas presents, cornered her, and told her she's not entitled to the life she has, that she shouldn't be the mother of her own children. We can fucking charge you with harassment for that."

"Jane, I understand that I may have been out of line to approach Maura like that, but it was hardly harassment. I did not threaten her in any way, nor was I holding her against her will."

"She _felt_ trapped. Do you know what I've done to other people who've treated the woman I love like that?"

"I apologize for making her feel that way. I let my emotions get the best of me. As a Christian man, it pains me to see a woman I once loved, a woman from a good Christian family, living the way you do. It pains me to see your child growing up like that when she could have had a real mother and father. I wanted to give you that."

"Maura _carried_ that child. Charlotte is as much hers as mine. That little girl could not be more loved. And neither could I, Casey. What you need to learn to accept is that _you_ couldn't have given me this life. I didn't _want_ it with you. I want it with Maura. You need to get the fuck over it and leave my family alone."

Casey looked at her. "Is it healthy for you to get this worked up in your condition?"

"In my _condition_? You mean the baby? Do you think I would do anything to endanger my child?"

Casey looked at Frankie. "Am I free to go?"

"Yes," Frankie admitted.

"Frankie!" Jane protested.

"Jane, we have nothing to hold him on. If he wants to go, he can go."

Jane glared at Casey as he got up and left the room.

"Jane, I really do wish you the best, particularly with your pregnancy," he said.

"Oh, shut up," she retorted, turning her back on him.

"Jane, I agree that he's being a jerk," said Frankie after he was gone, "but he really hasn't done anything illegal. He technically didn't threaten Maura, and even she isn't sure he was actually trying to hold her against her will. And aside from motive, we have nothing to connect him to the murders, articles, or notes. I mean, would he even know how to hack into the police reports or the _Boston Globe_? Could he even write a decent article?"

"I don't really know," admitted Jane.

"I'm not sure the motive really makes sense either. Yeah, he's mad that you're married to Maura instead of him, but why would that make him kill people in the style of killers you've dealt with and post articles that make you look bad? And what's with the notes saying things like 'your life isn't perfect?'"

"It wouldn't make sense," Jane admitted. "Casey thinks my life is more than 'not perfect.' He thinks my entire family is a sham." She looked up as Maura came into the room, moving cautiously as if afraid Jane would unleash her anger on her. Jane forced herself to smile reassuringly. "Get your coat, honey," she told her. "We might as well go back home. We're no closer to finding the killer, but maybe at least Casey won't bother you anymore."

"If he does, let me know," said Frankie. "We can do something if he actually crosses the line into harassment."

"Oh, _I'm_ going to do something if he crosses any more lines," Jane promised.

XXX

Jane walked downstairs for breakfast and immediately sensed something was off. What was it? The kitchen looked the same as it had since Maura moved in. Her mother was making pancakes, which startled her at first, but why should it? Her mother had been living here almost as long as Maura had.

"Hi baby," said Angela.

"Hey." Jane stretched. "Where's Maura?"

Angela looked up, her face white. "Maura? Honey, you know she's not here."

"Why wouldn't she be here?"

"Jane, baby, she died. Don't you remember?"

Jane shook her head. "No, she couldn't have. We've been married over three years. She had a baby. We bought a new house." She looked around, suddenly understanding why this kitchen looked wrong. They didn't live here anymore. Did they?

Angela stared at her, eyes filling with tears. "Oh, Janie, you're imagining all that. Maura was poisoned, remember? It was arsenic. She died in your arms. That bad cop did it."

 _That's right_ , Jane thought, her heart ripping open all over again as the memories came rushing back. She could still see Maura throwing up on her office floor, then lying in a hospital bed connected to different machines that were trying unsuccessfully to keep her alive, then crying after the doctor said she wouldn't make it and telling Jane she didn't want to leave her. She remembered Maura going limp in her arms after she was sedated, remembered watching her sleep until the alarm went off as her heart stopped, remembered sitting through a funeral that was all wrong. Maura was dead, gone after only eight months of marriage. How could she have forgotten?

Jane sank to the floor, overcome by a sense of emptiness. What was she supposed to do without her Maura, her center, her primary source of joy? Her mother rushed to her side and put her arms around her. Jane leaned against her helplessly, trying to understand how a world without Maura was even supposed to work, until the ache seemed to pull her from sleep.

She was disoriented at first, but when her eyes adjusted to the dark, she realized she was in the bedroom of their Jamaica Plain house. A house they would never have purchased if Maura hadn't survived the poisoning. She turned her head to see Maura sleeping peacefully beside her, breathing slowly and evenly. She was curled up on her side, facing Jane. Jane very gently touched Maura's hair, reassuring herself that she was real, then lightly kissed her forehead and sat up. It was Christmas Eve – no, Christmas Day, according to the clock. She could see Charlotte sleeping on the video monitor. Her heart rate slowly returned to normal as she thought back over the events of the past several hours.

It had been a perfect Christmas Eve. After dinner the three of them had retreated to the living room to sit in front of the fire with hot chocolate, and Jane and Maura had taken turns playing their favorite Christmas albums. For Jane, that had been the soundtrack to _A Charlie Brown Christmas_ ; for Maura, it was _The Nutcracker_. Charlotte had been happy with both and had danced all around the living room until she wore herself out. Jane and Maura had even danced with her, all three of them giggling, Jane wondering what the hell she had done to deserve this kind of bliss.

Then they had set out homemade cookies out on a plate, telling Charlotte how much Santa would appreciate them, promising her he would come down the chimney as soon as she went to sleep. Jane had done most of the talking, which she was afraid would get tricky when the kids were older, but Maura had agreed to go along with the Santa Claus myth because Santa was a _metaphor_ and therefore not a lie, exactly. Also, she had always been envious of children who were allowed to believe in Santa. Her parents had never bothered with the myth, which Jane thought was an outrage. Charlotte, at least, would not be deprived of this essential part of childhood. Once the cookies were out, they had taken Charlotte upstairs for her bath and dressed her in her Christmas pajamas. Jane read her _A Visit from Saint Nicholas_ , and then Maura had quietly sung Christmas carols to her while she nursed until she fell asleep.

With Charlotte in her crib, Jane and Maura had snuck up to the attic and brought down her brightly wrapped presents, arranging them carefully under the tree. Jane had eaten most of the cookies, with Maura playfully wrestling her for rights to the last one (Jane let her win and pretended to be upset about it). Once Charlotte's stocking was full, the tree bulging with presents, and nothing but crumbs left on the plate, they had gone up to their bedroom, started a fire in their own fireplace, and made love before falling asleep. Jane was now in that part of the pregnancy where she was horny all the time, and Maura thought lovemaking by firelight on Christmas Eve would be wildly romantic.

Looking around the room now, Jane could still see a few embers glowing in the fireplace. She slipped out of bed and went to look out the window. It had started snowing, she realized with a smile. They would have to get out Charlotte's snowsuit in the morning. She already knew what the day would be like. They would eat the fancy French toast Maura was making for breakfast, then watch Charlotte rip into her presents, then open the presents they had for each other before taking her out to play in the snow. Then the house would flood with Rizzolis, and there would be more presents to open and food cooking and general chaos. They would be exhausted by the end, but happy.

She had a sudden urge to see Charlotte in person, so she crept as quietly as she could down the hall to her room. The colored lights were glowing on Charlotte's little Christmas tree, and she slept soundly in her crib, her tiny chest rising and falling. Jane wondered what she was dreaming about, if visions of sugarplums really were dancing in her head. This perfect child – this whirlwind of energy – would never have existed if Maura had died that day almost three years ago.

Eva might have. There was a chance, if Jane had physically survived the death of her wife and the events that would have followed, that she would have decided to have Maura's baby, using her frozen eggs and the sperm they had already purchased. It would have given her something to live for, a chance to put a bit of Maura back into the world. Still, she couldn't imagine how sad it would be to raise her alone, with no one to share every precious little moment with, trying to teach the child about the incredible mother she should have had. And a world without Charlotte would be just as horrifying as a world without Maura. She didn't talk about it much, but not a day went by that she didn't remember, at least for a moment, the horrible emptiness she had felt when she thought Maura was dead and feel grateful for how full her life was now. If someone thought they were going to take all of this away from her now, they were very much mistaken. She would fight to the death for this, for her beloved girls. All three of them.

She turned to head back to the master bedroom, but stopped on the way in the bedroom right next to theirs, the one they were setting up for Eva. They hadn't gotten very far yet, but they'd painted the walls green, and Maura, with a bit of coaxing, had painted tall flowers of different colors on the walls. It had come to Jane's attention in the past few years that Maura actually had some artistic talent, but Maura absolutely could not be convinced of this. The flowers she'd painted looked gorgeous though, and so did the new rug, which was green with pink roses. On the rug sat Charlotte's old cradle. There wasn't much else in the room yet, but Maura was planning on buying furniture with a Flower Fairies theme. Jane had consented to this rather girly theme because, for one, it wasn't overwhelmingly pink, and, for two, she couldn't imagine Maura's biological child not being girly. She knew she might be wrong. Maybe Eva would be the tomboy and Charlotte the girly one. Maybe they would both be girly and Jane would be surrounded.

She put her hand on her belly, imagining the little girl who would grow up in this room. She tried not to project too much, but she couldn't help picturing a miniature Maura, one who would grow up with all the things Maura had been deprived of: loving, involved parents, a sister to play with, and a big, noisy extended family.

"I think you're going to like it here," Jane whispered. "I hope you like fairies though. And flowers."

"Jane!"

The scream sent Jane running back to the bedroom, where she found Maura sitting up in bed, her chest heaving.

"Hey," Jane said gently, getting into bed and pulling Maura into her arms. "Bad dream?"

Maura nodded. "I dreamed Casey took you, he just _took_ you, the way Hawthorne did. And I tried to find you, but I couldn't. I didn't know where he would take you. Then I woke up, and you were gone."

"Sorry about that. I had a bad dream too, so I got up to check on Charlie and then I went to look at Eva's room. I still think your flowers look amazing."

"Looking at them in the dark probably helps."

"No, I turned the light on. They were still good."

"What was your bad dream about?"

Jane hesitated. "I dreamed that you had actually died when Hawthorne poisoned you, and I found out I'd just imagined everything that's happened since."

"Oh, Jane. I shouldn't have done that to you. It didn't even accomplish anything."

"You don't know that. Anyway, there's no point in wishing that now. You're here. That's what matters." She kissed the top of Maura's head. "And there's no way in hell Casey is taking me."

Maura smiled. "We have no real reason to believe he ever would. It just scared me when he showed up out of nowhere like that, and he's clearly not over you. Not that I can blame him, I suppose, but I keep thinking, what if we overlooked something? What if he _is_ the killer, and we're just not putting it together?"

"It's possible, but I really doubt it. It doesn't make any sense that he would try to destroy my reputation if he wants me back. Yours, maybe, but not mine too. The notes don't quite fit either. I still can't decide if those are connected to everything else or if we're dealing with two different things. And I still feel like I'm missing something obvious."

Maura put her hand on Jane's knee and squeezed it. "Maybe you should just let your mind take a break from all of this. It's Christmas, and we're all safe at home. Let's focus on that for now."

"You're right. It _is_ technically Christmas." She looked at Maura. "So do you want to open a present?"

Maura looked up at her and smiled. "We could each open one."

"I'm game." They grabbed the baby monitor and snuck downstairs to the living room, where the tree was still aglow with its pile of presents for Charlotte. Jane reached around the back of the tree and retrieved a small package, handing it to Maura, who as always smiled like she'd never gotten a present before. Jane settled down on the couch next to her and watched sleepily as Maura carefully untaped the paper and smoothed it out before extracting the box inside.

"Oh, it's Chanel!" she exclaimed in delight, taking the lid off to reveal a gold necklace. The pendant was in the shape of a flower with layers of petals, all of them outlined in tiny diamonds. "Jane," said Maura, touching the flower lightly. "It's beautiful! A camellia."

"Is that what it is? I just thought it was pretty, and you're pretty, so it made sense to get it for you."

Maura smiled. "Can you put it on me?"

"Sure." Maura lifted her hair up and Jane unclasped the necklace, placing it around Maura's neck. "I had to take Charlotte in her fancy dress with me to the jewelry counter so they would believe I might be rich enough to buy this. They always look at my clothes and think I shouldn't be there. And they're right. I can't afford this. I feel like I'm just buying you stuff with your own money."

Maura touched the pendant, which now hung down between her collar bones. "It's _our_ money. And it doesn't matter how much something costs or how you pay for it. What matters is that you picked it out especially for me."

Jane smiled at her. "It looks perfect on you. Even in your PJs."

"I love it. Thank you!"

"Any time. Now where's my present?"

Maura tilted her head thoughtfully. "I think I'm going to give you your biggest present now. It's in the parlor."

"Why is it in there?"

"It won't fit under the tree, and I had to put it someplace where you wouldn't see it. You hardly ever go in the parlor."

"Well, the TV's in here."

"I know," said Maura with an enigmatic smile. "Come with me."

Jane followed her into the parlor, which was essentially a mirror image of the living room, only smaller and with fancier furniture. Maura's chess set was set up in front of the fireplace, and a lot of her sculptures and knickknacks from around the world were displayed on shelves in here, so the pocket doors were often closed to keep Charlotte from wandering in unattended. A lighted garland glowed on the mantle, as did a modest tree by the window. And by one wall was something that hadn't been there before: a beautifully carved upright piano with a big red bow. Jane turned to Maura in shock.

"It was built in 1893, but it's fully restored," said Maura. "I had it delivered and tuned the day before yesterday, when you were at Frankie's watching the game."

"Did you—"

"Tell him to invite you over? Maybe…"

Jane ran her fingers over the wood, sliding back the lid to reveal the keys. "I haven't played in years."

"I know. But you said you missed it."

"When did I say that?"

"A few months ago, when I dragged you to that Bach concert. There was a song you used to know how to play and you said you missed your old piano, the one that Hoyt damaged when he broke into your apartment. It was such a pretty old piano. I still think it could have been repaired."

"Yeah, but I never really played anymore, after what he did to my hands." She sat down on the bench and pressed a few of the higher keys lightly to hear their sound.

"I know, and that's what bothers me, that you gave up something you liked because of him. Your hands have been better for a long time now. Maybe you can get back into it!"

"Maybe. I don't know if I'd be that good anymore." She played half a scale, very quietly, barely pressing the keys. Maura sat down beside her.

"I'd love to hear you play," she said softly. "Not right now of course, but when Charlotte's up. I always knew you _could_ play, but I've never heard you do it. I don't know how, so I think I would find it very…sexy." She leaned her head against Jane's shoulder.

"I can try to get back in practice," said Jane.

"I also thought about the fact that you normally play ice hockey this time of year, but you can't this year because it's not safe for the baby. So I wanted to give you something you _could_ do."

"You're kind of amazing," said Jane. Maura gave her a dazzling smile. Suddenly Jane gasped, putting her hand on her little baby bump.

"What's wrong?" Maura asked, her smile quickly turning to panic.

"I just felt a little fluttery feeling. I've felt it a few times this week, but I thought it might be my imagination. It was a little stronger this time."

Maura's smile returned, even more brilliant than before. "Oh, Jane! That means you're starting to feel her move!"

"So, it's good?"

"It's very good! I remember when I first felt Charlotte move. It was the most amazing feeling!" She put her hands on Jane's bump and gave her a kiss. "It'll still be a while before I can feel her, but I'm glad you can. I really wanted you to get to experience this!"

Jane slid her arms around Maura, marveling at the way life worked. One day she felt like she was breaking under the weight of the atrocities being committed because of her and the threat to her family; another day, she felt like she was bursting from all the joy in her life. She supposed that was why the threat was so terrifying; she had so very much to lose.

"Maura," she said quietly. "When Nielson took you, I told Frost I was going to get you out of there alive, and that I was going to kill the man who took you. And I did. I did both of those things."

"Of course you did."

Jane was always a bit floored by Maura's unwavering faith in her, but she went on. "Well, I'm going to make you two promises about whoever we're dealing with now, and then I'm going to do it, just like before."

"What are they?"

"First, I'm going to catch the son of a bitch before he gets the chance to hurt anyone I love."

"Including you."

"Including me." Normally Jane didn't mind getting hurt if it was necessary, but right now that would mean Eva getting hurt as well, and she couldn't let that happen. "The second thing is that I'm not going to let him keep me from enjoying what I already have. Then he still wins, and I can't let him win."

"Those are good promises." Maura smiled up at Jane, her eyes full of trust. "I believe you'll keep both of them."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Maura smiled as she looked up from her microscope to see Nina entering the crime lab. She'd considered Nina a friend for some time, but now she was also family. They shared a special bond as the two women who had married into the Rizzoli family (technically there had been another one, but she didn't count since she divorced back out). They often compared notes on Jane and Frankie and laughed about things that had happened at family gatherings. Maura loved having someone at work to talk to about these things. It made her feel like she belonged, even with Jane gone.

"I have some files for you to give Jane," Nina said. "It's not exactly a break in the case, but it might be another piece of the puzzle."

Maura reached for the files. "What did you find?"

"I've been working the angle that the killer could be someone you and Jane helped to put away. I couldn't find anything there, but I went a little further back, and I did find some similar cases."

"Similar how?"

"There were several cases in the seventies, eighties, and early nineties where young women were abducted, raped, and left naked, tied to trees near the river. The major difference is that they were still alive."

Maura shivered, imagining the fear and humiliation the women must have experienced while they waited for someone to find them, hoping it would be someone kind. "Did they catch the man responsible?"

"No. He would come up behind them and put a bag over their heads, so they never saw him. One woman was able to knock the bag off long enough to catch a glimpse of his face, so they have a rough sketch, but it wasn't really enough to go on. The attacks stopped eventually. Either he died, got arrested for something unrelated, or moved away. If he is still alive, he's certainly no spring chicken."

"Did the women disappear from the same neighborhood?"

"They weren't limited to any particular neighborhood. He would pull them into his car, and they couldn't tell where he drove them to."

Maura looked at the rough sketch in the file. He certainly didn't look familiar, but Jane might recognize him. "The last attack was in 1993. Jane and I were in high school then. We can't possibly have anything to do with why he stopped."

"No, you can't. Like I said, it's just another possible piece of the puzzle. It could have nothing to do with the new cases, but we try not to overlook any similarities."

"Thank you, Nina. I think Jane will be very interested in reading this."

Maura checked her watch when she was finished in the crime lab. Jane's class would be over by now, so she was probably in her office doing some sort of grading or planning. She went into her own office and called Jane to give her a summary of the files.

"I think I remember hearing about this when it was happening," Jane said. "He didn't attack that often, but it was in the news whenever he did. It freaked people out that they couldn't catch him. Then we just sort of stopped hearing about it. So there was no particular pattern to these attacks?"

"Not really. There were long gaps in between, but the length of time varied. There was one victim who froze to death when she was tied to the tree, and two others who were treated for hypothermia, but he didn't intentionally kill anyone. He just left them alive, always with the sack still over their heads. It must have been terrifying."

"He was definitely going for maximum humiliation. Guys like that, it's what they get off on. Knowing they have the power to cause someone unbearable terror and shame, knowing it will haunt them throughout their lives."

"That could be why he didn't kill them, because he liked knowing they were out there having nightmares about him years later. But the one we're looking for now kills his victims immediately after raping them."

"He's not doing this for them. He's doing it for us. He probably loves knowing you and I are having nightmares right now." She paused for a minute. "I doubt it's the same person as before. That guy would be getting kind of old by now. But it could be someone who's connected to him, like a son or something."

"You'll figure it out."

"I hope so. Now can we talk about the thing you put in my work bag?"

"What? Oh, the vibrator?"

"Yes, the vibrator that you stuck in my bag without telling me. I found it while I was teaching my class. Fortunately no one else saw it."

"I meant to tell you I was putting that in there! I was thinking about how when I was pregnant, I used to call you down to my office when I really needed an orgasm, and you would come take care of me if you had time. But now we don't work in the same place, so I thought you should take the remote vibrator to work so I can give you orgasms over wi-fi."

"Well, that's…very thoughtful of you. A little heads up might have been nice, but, guess I can't complain."

"Orgasms help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which will help you recover faster after you give birth. You should be having them at every opportunity!"

"Well, I sort of want them at every opportunity, because…" There was a pause, and then Jane's voice became muffled, as if she were cupping her hand over the phone. "It's not that I'm _that_ much hornier than usual, but when we do it it's like…more _extreme_ than usual. And I'm…wetter than normal, so I feel like I'm always ready."

"Orgasms are stronger during pregnancy because of increased blood flow to the genitals," Maura said pleasantly. "Sometimes I wish I could get pregnant again so I could have those extra strong orgasms! But they're pretty strong the rest of the time too."

"You _do_ have your office door closed while you're talking like this, right?"

"Yes! What about you? Do you want to use the vibrator?"

"Well…I should have some time, and I can lock the door…"

"Lock it. As soon as we hang up, I'll get on the app."

"Okay. Make sure you bring those files home tonight so I can look at them."

"I will. And don't forget we have dinner at Diana's tonight."

"Shit, I totally forgot. Do we have to dress up for that?"

"I already picked something out for you."

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you on the app."

"I love you," Maura said sweetly before she hung up. Then she opened the app that went with the remote vibrator. Maura had made up screen names for both of them when she bought the vibrator. Hers was simply DrMaura. Jane's was SexyDetective.

 _Hey hot stuff_ , Jane said through the app after accepting Maura's chat request. _Give me a second to get set up_.

Maura smiled when the little heart appeared telling her the vibrator was now online. _I'm ready when you are. Is your office door locked?_

 _It's locked. I'm ready for you._

Biting her lip in anticipation, Maura started with the "tap" function on the app, tapping her phone's screen in different spots. She worked slowly at first, picturing Jane sitting at her desk with the little vibrator tucked into her panties.

 _Can you do that a little harder?_ Jane requested.

 _Of course,_ Maura responded, increasing the intensity of her taps. Then, just to make things interesting, she tapped _I love you, Jane_ in Morse code, recorded it, and sent it to her repeatedly, wondering if she would understand. A few minutes later, another message came through:

 _Are you doing Morse code?_

 _I am,_ Maura responded, feeling pleased. Another minute passed before she received the next message:

 _I love you too, weirdo._

Maura was utterly delighted to discover that she and her wife were capable of communicating through Morse code via vibrator, but she needed to get back to work soon, so she decided to switch over to something that would get results faster. She turned on "wave" mode, which allowed her to control the intensity of the vibrations by tilting her phone. She started out small, then tilted the phone a bit and tilted it back, then tilted it more, a little farther than the first time, then back again. She continued with this for some time, enjoying the power she had in her hands, eventually putting the vibrator all the way up to 100% intensity before backing off again and then going back to 100%, for longer this time, until she received a message that said _You can stop now_.

 _Was it good?_ She asked in response.

 _Yeah. It was good._ Then, a moment later: _I fucking hit the jackpot with you. You know that, right?_

Maura grinned.

XXX

"So are we finally going to meet Gary tonight?" Jane asked in the car on the way to Diana's house in the upscale suburb of Wellesley.

"He's supposed to be there. I admit I'm curious about his as well."

"She always talks about him, but he never seems to be around. Have you confirmed that he's a real person?"

Maura laughed. "I have! I saw pictures of him when I was at her house before, and I looked him up online."

"Look at you, being all detective-y."

"I didn't pry. I just looked at his picture on the website of the investment bank he manages. It didn't say much about him."

"He's a bank manager? That explains why they're loaded."

"He's managing director of his firm, which could explain him working such long hours. Still, I get the impression they don't have the happiest marriage."

"I don't think she's the happiest person in general. She seems so shocked by your amazingness all the time."

"There's a lot she doesn't know about me," Maura sighed. "I don't think she has many friends. I feel bad for her, because I know what that's like. I didn't have many friends before I met you." She turned through the open gate into Diana's winding driveway.

"Damn, they _are_ loaded," Jane said with a whistle, taking in the Tudor-style mansion.

Maura parked near the four-car garage and got out. "Managing directors at investment banks make an average of one million dollars a year." She looked around the large brick parking area, designed to allow for numerous party guests. This house was built for someone who did a lot of entertaining, something Maura knew Diana wasn't good at. She flashed back to the large dinner parties her mother was famous for throwing, when the house would flood with people and Maura would hide in her room, terrified that her parents would make her come out and make small talk with people. Eventually she had been forced to start participating and had learned how to behave, but she never enjoyed it. Much to her mother's disappointment, she'd chosen never to throw such parties herself. The big, informal Sunday dinners she now had with family and friends were a lot more fun. She could be herself there.

However, if she'd married one of the wealthy men she dated in her youth instead of holding out for Jane, her fate might have been quite similar to Diana's. She felt a wave of sympathy for her friend as she rang the doorbell. An elderly man in a suit opened the door.

"Good evening," he said. "You must be Dr. Isles and Detective Rizzoli. Please come in. I'll take your coats."

"Is his name Jeeves?" Jane muttered as they stepped into a large foyer with inlaid marble flooring.

"Shhh!" Maura replied.

"I'll find out," Jane promised, and before Maura could stop her, she held her hand out to the butler and said, "Jane Rizzoli. Good to meet you."

"Charmed, I'm sure," he said stiffly, awkwardly shaking her hand before turning to hang up the coats.

"You don't introduce yourself to the staff!" Maura hissed.

"Why not?"

"It's just not done! The staff try to do their jobs in such a way that you barely notice they're here."

"Like house elves in Harry Potter? If I give him a sock, will he be free?"

Maura was spared having to respond by the appearance of Diana.

"You're here! It's so good to see you both!" Diana exclaimed, taking Maura's hands and air-kissing her cheeks. "Jane, you look more pregnant every time I see you! You look good though."

"Doesn't she?" Maura said proudly, admiring her wife's figure in the black maternity dress she'd picked out for her. Jane was looking quite feminine tonight, with her hair up, a pair of dangly silver earrings on, her neat little baby bump and her enlarged breasts. She was beautiful.

"Come on into the dining room," said Diana. "I've got the salads on the table already." They followed her into a spacious dining room where the table was beautifully set…for three people.

"Oh, Gary isn't here?" Maura asked.

"No, he had some sort of emergency come up at work. I'm not really sure what investment bank emergencies are like, but I probably wouldn't want to know!" She laughed, but it sounded forced. "Nothing wrong with having a ladies' night, though!"

"Not at all!" Maura agreed, taking the seat across from Jane. She watched Jane look down at her salad and make a face that, knowing her, probably meant _where's the dressing?_ Maura gave her a stern look that she hoped conveyed the message _there is dressing, just not the kind you're used to._ She supposed it must have, because Jane picked up her fork – the correct one – and started eating.

"I guess the nice thing about being lesbians is that you can have 'ladies' night' and still be with your partner," said Diana.

"Oh, it's always ladies' night at our house," Jane said, winking at Maura.

"So how is the pregnancy going?"

"It's good. I'm twenty weeks now. Halfway through," Jane said. "We have an ultrasound tomorrow, to see what she's looking like these days."

"This is the one where we would find out the sex if we didn't already know," Maura said.

"Wow! So it's a girl, right?"

"Yes," said Maura happily. "I can't wait to meet her. But I like seeing Jane pregnant. She can feel the baby move now!"

"Wow, what does that feel like? Is it weird?"

"A little," Jane admitted. "But it's also really incredible to feel a new little person growing inside of you, especially, in my case, knowing this person came from Maura."

"That's right, she is Maura's, isn't she? She'll be gorgeous then."

"This will be the first time I've had a biological relative living under the same roof as me," Maura noted.

"Oh, you did say you were adopted, didn't you?"

"Yes. I know some of my biological family, but…it's complicated. I get along much better with Jane's side of the family, but it'll be nice to have one blood relative things aren't complicated with."

"Hold that thought! Mother/daughter relationships can get _very_ complicated."

"Maura's a wonderful mom," Jane said shortly. "Eva will adore her, just like Charlotte does."

"Well, I don't doubt that," Diana said quickly, signaling to the still-nameless butler to take away their salad bowls and bring in the entrée. Maura watched Jane's eyes light up when she saw the vegetable manicotti on her plate. The butler came back with a bottle of wine.

"Oh, I'm gonna have to stick with water," Jane said, patting Eva.

"I'll take just a few sips," said Maura, holding up her glass. "I want it to be out of my system by the time I get home, in case Charlotte is awake and wants to nurse," she explained to Diana. "There's no evidence that occasional exposure to alcohol in breast milk is harmful, but I prefer to err on the side of caution."

"Great, make me feel like I'm drinking alone," Diana laughed. "So isn't it going to be hectic having two little ones so close together?"

"I'm sure it will," said Maura. "But I think we're up to the challenge."

"We've never been the sort to avoid dangerous situations," Jane said with a wry smile.

"I bet you got in a lot of dangerous situations when you were a cop!"

"Yeah. It's not an easy job for people who have families. That's why I'm teaching now. And consulting, but I don't have to run after bad guys when I'm doing that."

"I bet that's a relief! How do you like teaching?"

"I like it. The recruits are great. They're full of energy, and they all think they're gonna save the world. Things haven't changed too much since my Academy days though. It's still overwhelmingly male, and I get a few who aren't crazy about having a female teacher. But I put them in their place."

"I bet you do! So I know about Maura's hobbies, but what do you do for fun, Jane?"

"Well, when I'm not pregnant, I play ice hockey in cold weather and softball in warm weather. Now that I am pregnant, I go to the prenatal yoga class my wife signed me up for without asking me first."

"I did ask! You said yes!"

"You were naked when you asked, so it doesn't count!" Jane looked quickly at Diana as if remembering she was there. "Sorry."

"She also plays the piano," Maura said.

"For an audience of two," Jane said. "Charlotte's trying to take it up too. She loves banging on the keys." She set down her napkin. "I hate to ask in the middle of dinner, but could you direct me to the nearest bathroom?"

"Oh, of course! There's one right across from here. Just go across the hall, through the foyer, and there's another little hall. The powder room's in there."

"Thanks." Jane got up and left the room, Maura watching her retreating figure. She hadn't made Jane wear heels since they weren't healthy for pregnant women, but her butt still looked very nice in that dress.

"She does clean up nice," said Diana. "You've got quite a catch."

"I do," Maura agreed fondly. "I feel very lucky. Of course, there are also disadvantages to having such a desirable wife. I have to deal with other people wanting her, and exes wanting her back."

"Oh, yeah, I bet you do. Do you ever worry about her straying, with all those opportunities?"

"Oh, no, not at all. She wouldn't do that. She loves me too much."

"You sound awfully confident."

"Jane loves everything about me."

Diana gave her an incredulous look. "Everything? Honey, I know Jane loves you, but nobody loves _everything_ about a person."

"Jane does. She tells me so every day."

"I hate to burst your bubble, sweetheart, but she's giving you a line. She can't love _every_ little thing about you. There's gotta be something you do that gets on her nerves."

"Oh, I do plenty of things that get on her nerves. But she says she even loves the things that drive her crazy. She wouldn't change a thing."

"Well, it's sweet of her to say that. I'm not sure I buy it, but it's sweet of her to say."

"I love everything about her," Maura insisted.

"You two have just about the most solid marriage I think I've ever seen, but I just can't believe that any person would really love everything about another person. There has to be _something_ you don't love."

"Her imperfections mean she's real, and I need her to be real. So I love them."

Jane came back into the room, looking carefully from Maura to Diana, trying to assess whether Diana was upsetting Maura. She must have decided it was okay, because she merely gave Diana a warning look before sitting down and saying, "This is a very nice place you've got."

"Oh, thanks! Gary and I had it built not long after we were married. We worked with an architect to make sure we had everything the way we wanted it. It's too big, really. When we built it we were thinking we were gonna have kids someday. But it's got some nice features. I wanted that pretty library, and we both wanted the bar in the family room. He even put in a safe room that can withstand a category five hurricane!"

Maura gasped. "You have a bug-out shelter?"

"Well, we always just called it the safe room, but I guess you could call it that."

"We worked a case once where someone died in a bug-out shelter!"

"You're still saying that wrong," Jane informed her. "It's _bug-_ out, not bug- _out_."

"That's what I said!"

"No it isn't! You make it sound almost French or something."

Maura sighed and turned back to Diana. "I think safe rooms are very interesting. There've been times when I thought it might be nice to have one, but Jane thinks they're silly, and I'm not sure where we would put one in our house."

"Well, you're welcome to look at our safe room. It's nothing special."

"Oh, I would love to see it!" said Maura.

"We're all done with our manicotti, right? We can go look and then come back for dessert."

So they got up and followed Diana into the library, a beautiful wood-paneled room with an enormous window in the front wall and built-in bookcases flanking a fireplace along the back wall. Diana moved what looked like a book on one shelf, and the entire bookcase swung towards them.

"No way!" exclaimed Jane. "You have a secret bookcase door? Maura, why don't we have a secret bookcase door?"

"Where would we put a secret bookcase door? Our house is over a hundred years old. I'm not damaging its architectural integrity to put in a secret room we probably won't need."

"But I've always wanted a secret bookcase door. Rich people in movies always have them."

"I was pretty excited about it at first too," said Diana. "I might enjoy it more if it went to a room we actually used, but we've never needed the safe room. As you can see, there's not much in there. A couple bunks that come down from the wall. Some folding chairs. The cabinet has freeze-dried food in case we ever got stuck in here after a storm, and the little closet in the corner has what's basically an airline bathroom. There's a phone to call for help. That's it. I would hate to actually be stuck in here."

"You need to add books," Maura advised her. "If I were stuck in a room for an extended period of time, I'd want something to read." She went in and walked around the little room, but there really wasn't much to see, so she came back out. Jane didn't bother going in.

"Well, I can cross 'see a secret bookcase door in real life' off my bucket list now," Jane said as they returned to the dining room, where dessert was waiting for them.

XXX

"I don't even think Diana knew the butler's name," Jane said as Maura pulled into their own garage.

"I'm sure she knows his name."

"I never heard her say it."

"Why do you care so much about the butler's name?" Maura laughed.

"I just felt awkward having this dude lurking around nearby while we ate and not even knowing what his name was. I'm so glad we don't have a butler. Let's never, ever get one. Secret bookcase door? Yes. Butler? No."

"I wasn't planning on getting one," Maura assured her, letting them into the house.

"Mommy! Mama!" Charlotte yelled as soon as they walked into the kitchen. She was on a stool at the kitchen counter next to Angela, playing with some sort of clay.

"Hi girls!" said Angela. "We made edible play dough tonight. She's having a good time with it."

Maura smiled, leaning to kiss her daughter on the head.

"How was dinner?" Angela asked. "What's Diana's house like?"

"It was fancier than our house, but I like ours better," said Jane. "She has a butler and a secret bookcase door that leads to a safe room."

"Did you finally meet her husband?"

"No," admitted Maura. "He had to work late because of an emergency."

Angela scoffed. "That's what they always say. He's probably banging the secretary."

"Ma! Watch your language in front of the kid!" Jane griped.

"She's not listening to me!"

"Yeah, that's what you always thought about me too. And I was _always_ listening."

Angela laughed. "Well, anyway, I have a question to ask you."

"What's that?"

"Could I…stay here, for a few nights? I just don't know if living with Ron is going to work. It's been almost a year, and I'm still not used to it. We were happier before. I love him to death, but I just want to see if spending a little time apart helps."

"Of course, Angela," Maura told her. "You can stay as long as you like! We furnished the apartment in the basement so it could be our guest house here, but it's much larger than the old guest house. I think you'll like it."

"That's very kind of you, Maura! I think I'll try staying for just a few nights and see how I feel after that. But if you wanted me to move back for good, I'd certainly consider it. You've got that new baby coming, and you might want a live-in nanny again."

"We might," Maura admitted. "But you're always welcome here regardless."

"Thank you, girls! I brought a bag just in case. I'll go ahead downstairs and try to get settled in. You'll hardly know I'm here!" She gave them all grateful hugs before running out to get her bag.

"'You can stay as long as you want?'" Jane said skeptically, looking at Maura. "The last time you told her that, she stayed for six years."

"And we were all perfectly happy!"

"Well, _I_ had a few reservations."

Maura gave her a look. "She might only stay a few days, but she's right that we may want her here all the time once Eva arrives. She was so helpful with Charlotte, and she still is. It may be a blessing."

Jane sighed. "I guess we'll find out."

XXX

The next morning, they went to Dr. Kessler's office for the 20-week ultrasound. Maura was bursting with excitement at the thought of getting another glimpse of her little baby.

"I can feel her wiggling a bit," Jane said as Dr. Kessler squirted the gel on her. "Maybe she's going to put on a show for us."

"I hope so," said Maura, holding Jane's hand in both of hers. She saw an image come to life on the screen, the basic outline of baby Eva, her little heart beating visibly in her chest. Maura carefully imagined atria and ventricles, making sure everything was the right size, watching the valves open and close.

"Let's listen to her heart first of all," said Dr. Kessler. She turned the sound on and they heard a strong thump-thump.

"138 beats per minute," Dr. Kessler declared, pausing the image to take a measurement. Then she went back to the full view of the fetus and Maura marveled at the shape of her head, arms, legs. Everything was there. Her head was the right size and shape, the bones aligned in her spine. She could see stomach, bladder, kidneys.

"She's sucking her thumb," she said in a hushed voice. As they watched, Eva took her thumb out of her mouth, waved her hand around, and put it on her face. "Oh, Jane, look at her!"

"I'm looking," said Jane softly.

"All right, I'm going to switch to 4D for a minute so you can see her facial features a little better," Dr. Kessler said. Then the image changed to a sepia tone and they could clearly make out eyelids, nose, lips. Eva opened her mouth for a moment and smacked her lips a few times.

"Oh, no," said Maura.

"What?" asked Jane in alarm. "Is something wrong with her?"

"No, but it looks like she might have the Doyle nose."

"Well, good."

"How is that good? I've never liked my nose. I was hoping she wouldn't get that from me."

"Really, Maura?" Jane turned her head to look at her. "There's nothing wrong with your nose. It's one of the things that makes you so beautiful."

"But it's big."

"It is _not_ big. I have memorized every detail of your face, and every detail is perfect. You'd better learn to think so too if we're going to have a daughter who looks like you."

"I'm sure I'll think she's beautiful no matter what," Maura conceded.

Dr. Kessler went back to 2D mode and took a few pictures. She put the phrase "IT'S A GIRL!" on the shot where her genitals were visible, saying, "I know you already know this, but you'll still want this for your album." Then she took a picture of Eva's feet, where they could see all her little toes. She zoomed out again so they could see her whole body. She was waving both her arms now, leaning her head forward.

"She's busy in there," said Dr. Kessler. "We caught her at a good time."

"She looks like she's trying to jump right out!" Maura remarked.

"No, you don't want out yet!" Jane told the baby. "You need to stay where you are for twenty more weeks!"

Maura watched, entranced, as Eva kicked her legs and put her thumb back in her mouth. "I love her," she declared with conviction.

"Me too," said Jane, her eyes glistening. "I think she's going to be perfect."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Jane was gathering her things at the end of a lesson when she realized one of her students was still in the room, watching her.

"What's up, Tim?" she said.

"Um." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "So um, some of the guys have been showing people these…articles about you, like about your ex-husband."

Her head snapped up. "I don't _have_ an ex-husband. Where did you see these?"

"I, um…well the new one's on the _Boston Herald_ website, but there are some others that have been emailed around. They're all written by people with weird names."

"There's one on the _Boston Herald_ now? When did it get there?"

"I don't know, I didn't see it until today. We were just wondering if all that stuff was true."

"No. No, it's not true. Someone is trying to wind me up, to get revenge on me for some perceived slight I suppose. When you see these articles, you need to show them to me immediately, and not to anyone else."

"Oh. Okay."

"Can you show me the _Boston Herald_ article?"

"Yeah." He pulled it up on his phone and handed it to her.

PUPPY LOVE?

 _How a childhood romance turned into a nightmare for former Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli_

By Ace Wither Horn

 _As children, Jane Rizzoli, a plumber's daughter, and Dominick Bianchi, a baker's son, dreamed of getting married one day. As adults, they did exactly that, having a romantic honeymoon in Hawaii. The catch? Rizzoli insisted that the marriage had to be secret, because she felt her success as a cop was dependent on her image as a self-possessed woman. For some years, Bianchi accepted this arrangement. She kept her last name, they lived in separate apartments, and they kept photographs from their wedding and honeymoon out of sight of visitors. Most people did not even know they were still in touch._

 _Over time, Bianchi became increasingly frustrated with this arrangement and insisted to his wife that they go public about their marriage and begin living together at long last. Rizzoli refused, choosing success in a male-dominated field over love. Bianchi finally decided to assert his authority as husband and took his wife by force to a secret location, where he dressed her in more feminine clothes befitting a married woman and tied her to a bed to keep her under control until she learned how to be a proper wife._

 _His plan might have worked but for Rizzoli's lesbian lover, medical examiner Maura Isles. Isles noticed Rizzoli was missing and insisted that detectives Vince Korsak, Barry Frost, and Frank Rizzoli (Jane Rizzoli's long-suffering brother, who, in spite of being the better cop, has always been overshadowed by his sister whose every accomplishment is viewed as more special because of her gender) search for her. While they might have left the situation alone once they saw she was simply in the hands of her husband, since Rizzoli had kept the marriage secret, they believed she had been kidnapped by a madman and staged a rescue. Bianchi was taken into custody, and Rizzoli quietly divorced him, later legally marrying her lesbian lover._

There was a "wedding" picture with the article, one of Dominick's bad photo editing jobs with their heads pasted on models' bodies. Jane took a screenshot and sent it to herself. "Tim, this is serious. Whoever is making up these articles and putting them online is also killing people. I need to know right away when you see one, and you should not be sharing them with the others. Am I clear?"

"Yeah, clear. So, none of that's true?"

She sighed heavily. "A very tiny part of it is true. Not the more scandalous parts. It's extremely important that we catch the man who is doing this, so you need to come to me with any further information, okay?"

He nodded before hurrying out. Jane immediately called Frankie.

"Frankie, there's another article. It's on the _Herald_ this time."

"The _Herald_? That's new."

"The _Globe_ is looking out for them now. He had to try a different tactic. But more importantly, this means there's a body we haven't found yet."

"You're right. He always posts the articles _after_ killing someone."

Jane rubbed her face. "It's supposed to be personal, so he's not going to kill his victim the way Dominick killed those two shrinks. There's someone tied to a bed somewhere."

"The victim he killed in Hoyt's style was in an old warehouse, so that's a place to start."

"The articles are getting more and more detached from reality. He said I was married to Dominick, which he can't possibly believe. There's a lot of anger behind this. And my students have been reading these. They have copies of the old ones. If his goal is to ruin my reputation, to make people take me less seriously, it may be working."

"Come on Jane, your reputation's not that easy to destroy. Don't let him get to you."

"I'm trying not to, but he's been at this almost a year now. He's playing a very long game, and he seems to be much better at the game than we are. If it was only my career at stake, I wouldn't worry that much, but my _family_ is at stake too."

"I know, Jane. We're doing everything we can."

"I know you are. Just call me as soon as you find the body, okay?"

She hung up the phone and went to her office, trying to figure out how she would do damage control with her students. How many of them had read the articles, and, more importantly, how many had believed what they read? It was hard to be credible as an instructor of future police officers if they thought she'd once had an affair with a serial killer and kept a husband secret for career reasons, or if they believed she'd killed people in the line of duty when it wasn't necessary to do so. She wasn't surprised to discover that the articles that had been removed from the _Globe_ were still out there in some capacity, but she was still disappointed. It meant it was still possible for people to read not only the lies about her supposed affair with Hoyt, but also the truth about what Nielson did to Maura. She felt very strongly that Maura had nothing to be ashamed of, but she also believed Maura had every right to decide whom to tell and when, and this person had taken that right away from her.

She sat down at her desk and wrote "Ace Wither Horn" on a sticky note. Normally she left the anagram solving to Maura, but she was pretty sure she knew what this one was. The "horn" and the prominent "W" kind of gave it away. She rearranged the letters, resting one hand on her growing stomach as she wrote. She could feel the little tap-tap of Eva's feet, her kicks becoming more pronounced as she grew. She paused in the middle of crossing out letters when she realized she was now feeling the kicks with her hand as well as on the inside. That meant Maura would be able to feel it now too.

As she suspected, the anagram was for "Eric Hawthorne." Even with that creep's name in front of her, she felt a little lighter knowing that she and Maura would soon be sharing the fetal kick experience. When Maura called an hour later, she answered the phone with a cheerful "Hey, sexy."

"Hi," said Maura, sounding both taken aback and amused. "Frankie just called me and said they found the body they're looking for. It's in the same warehouse he used before. I thought you'd want to come with me to see it."

"Yeah, of course! I'll come pick you up. And I'll have you know _I_ solved the anagram this time."

"Eric Hawthorne?"

Jane was quiet for a moment. "Fine. We both solved it." Maura giggled.

Jane locked up her office and headed to the station to get Maura before driving to the warehouse.

"Nina talked to the _Herald_ and got them to take the article down," Maura said after she had gotten into the car with her medical bag.

"But I'm sure all interested parties have already taken screenshots. Nothing's ever really gone."

"I know. That means people can still read the first article, the one about me."

"It's not still posted on the news website. Not that many people are going to see it. Probably no one you know."

"What if some of my readers see it? I have a book signing next week. People might Google me, and see the article, and think—"

"That you're really brave and strong?"

"That I'm _damaged_."

"You're _not_ damaged. Why would anyone think that?"

She took a deep breath, blinking rapidly. "I know it's wrong, but…there's a stigma. There are people who would think badly of me."

"Well, there are assholes, but you don't really want _them_ buying your book anyway."

Maura chuckled a little.

"You know," said Jane, "it's completely your choice, but if you ever decided to just own what happened to you and be forthcoming about it, I think most people would be really impressed. You could let everyone see how amazing you are for surviving something like that and then going on to be happy and achieve your dreams instead of letting it destroy you. It might even inspire people."

"I don't think I'm ready for that."

"Okay. You amaze me already. And I will be more than happy to kill the fucker who put that shit out there."

"You're not taking anyone on in your condition."

"Why does everyone think I'm fragile?" She griped, parking the car outside the warehouse.

"We don't. But Eva is."

"Yeah, fair enough." They got out of the car and Jane froze, feeling another tap-tap of tiny feet.

"What's wrong?" Maura asked her.

"Shh. Come quietly."

Maura crept nervously towards her. Jane gave her a reassuring smile. She took Maura's hand and placed it on the spot where she'd felt the tapping. A minute passed, and then it happened again. Maura's eyes lit up. "I feel it!" she whispered. "Jane, I can feel her kicking!"

"I knew you'd be excited."

"This means I can start to interact with her now! She hasn't really been aware of my existence so far. I feel like I haven't been able to contribute anything as a mother."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Well, you contributed your DNA. That's a pretty big contribution. And I wouldn't know what the hell I was doing with my prenatal vitamins if you didn't put them in that pill organizer every week."

"That's true."

"They're both lucky to have you as a mom. Now let's go see this body."

Jane braced herself for what she was about to relive when they went in. She'd downplayed the event ever since it happened. Maura had been badly shaken at the time, insisting Jane stay the night at her house afterwards (this was before they were dating, although, looking back, it was easy to see how blurred the lines had been even then), so Jane had cracked jokes to make her feel better, promising that it wasn't so bad. But the sheer helplessness of being restrained to a bed in such a vulnerable position, a madman having complete control over her, was not a feeling she would ever forget, however much she might want to. It was a with a practiced stoicism that she greeted the scene before her: a young woman with dark hair, naked, handcuffed to an old bedframe, the words "STUPID BITCH" carved onto her stomach.

"He went to a lot of trouble to stage this one," said Frankie, walking over to meet them. "He dragged a whole bed out here. I bet he's pissed we're a day late finding the body."

"The bed looks like it was dragged out of a dumpster," Jane said, wrinkling her nose. "He left out the worst part: the awful girly clothes."

"That wasn't the worst part," said Maura sternly.

No, it wasn't. The worst part for Maura had undoubtedly been the horror of not knowing where Jane was, the fear that he would burn her with acid before they could find her. Jane hadn't known about the woman he'd done that to until it was all over. For her, the worst part was being trapped and defenseless. The second worst part was the rape kit she'd been required to have done afterwards. She wasn't too worried they'd find anything, and they hadn't, but it was still a humiliating experience. She vividly remembered Korsak telling her she had to get one, not looking her in the eye. She could have refused, but then she'd be hindering the investigation. So she consented, but she wouldn't let Maura come with her. She found her in the waiting room afterwards, told her everything was fine, and went home to drink beer and laugh about the situation. She didn't mention how violated she felt just knowing he'd undressed her while she was unconscious. She didn't think she even had the right to feel that way now, after everything Maura had gone through, but there it was. Looking at the body now, her skin crawled with the memory.

"He carved 'bitch' on her," she pointed out, forcing her voice to remain steady. "Didn't he do that with the Hoyt-style victim?"

"Yeah, on her forehead," said Frankie.

"So, only the ones that resemble me get the 'bitch.' I think that means _I'm_ the one he's calling a bitch. I wish that narrowed it down, but a lot of people think that about me." This was true, but something was itching in her mind, some memory of someone calling her a stupid bitch, but she couldn't quite grab onto it. She'd been called that so many times over the years. Why should any particular time stand out? "I think I'm the primary target. Not Maura."

"But the notes are clearly targeting me," said Maura.

"Then they have to be two different people." She frowned. "So we each have our own psycho right now?"

"Possibly. If we do, yours seems a lot more dangerous than mine."

"Yeah. Yeah, he does." She looked back at the body. "Any ID yet?"

"We're still working on that," said Frankie.

"Well, Jane worked out the anagram," Maura volunteered.

"Yeah," said Jane. "It's Hawthorne."

"So does that mean he's going to stab the next victim to death, like Hawthorne did?" Frankie wondered.

"Maybe. Or poison her with arsenic, like he did to Maura. That's the only way to make it personal, but he hasn't been great at sticking to the script. Maybe he'll do both." She looked at Maura, who was busy taking the victim's vitals. "Your book signing next week. Are you sure that's a good idea right now?"

"Jane! I know what you're thinking, but it's my first book signing. I can't cancel it. I'm trying to put myself out there as a new author, and I will lose credibility if I cancel my very first event!"

Jane nodded. She was expecting that. "Okay. So we're going to need a police presence at the event."

"Jane, no! If the police are there, people won't come! They'll think it's not safe!"

"Not an obvious police presence. Maybe we can get by with just Frankie and Nina hanging around. But we need someone, because this is a public event that's been advertised. The killer or the note writer could be there. It's an easy chance to get close to you."

"She's right," agreed Frankie. "We should be there, just in case someone tries something."

"I suppose it's all right as long as it's subtle," Maura conceded. "Especially if it's just family."

"Well, your family isn't going to miss your first ever book signing," said Frankie.

"If the notes are unrelated, that means the killer hasn't gotten close to Maura or been to our house," said Jane. "But someone has, and we don't know what their goal is. We haven't paid nearly enough attention to solving the note thing because we thought it was probably tied to the murders."

"So we'll start looking at it as two different cases," said Frankie. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

Jane watched Maura going about her work, an uneasy feeling settling over her. It _was_ a relief to think that the killer probably hadn't been near Maura after all, and it was possible that the person writing the notes had no plans of actually hurting anyone. But someone was targeting Maura, trying to chip away at the happiness she and Jane had so carefully built in the last several years, and that did not sit well with Jane. Not at all.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"I'm so nervous," Maura said on the way into the bookstore. "What if no one comes?"

"Ma's bringing her book club, so you'll at least have that," Jane told her. Charlotte was walking between them, holding both their hands.

"What if no one _else_ comes?"

"Then you'll still get to go home with two people who absolutely adore you."

Maura smiled at Jane and Charlotte. "Thank you," she said, giving Jane a kiss.

Right inside the store was a big sign advertising Maura's book signing. _Local mystery author Maura Isles-Rizzoli,_ it said under a picture of Maura, the same one from the "about the author" blurb in her book, where Maura (in her opinion) looked so much better than she did in real life. She hoped no one would be disappointed when they saw her in person after looking at that enhanced picture. She felt she looked downright homely compared to that, but she wouldn't have said so to Jane. Jane would just lecture her about how she was the most beautiful woman in the world with or without Photoshop. She knew Jane really believed this, but Jane saw her through a lens of dopamine and serotonin. The guests at the signing would not.

"This is awesome," said Jane. "Maura, you have to let me take your picture with this!"

"I feel weird," said Maura.

"It's not weird. It's cool! Two beautiful Mauras in one picture."

Maura dutifully stood by the sign with Charlotte in her arms and smiled at Jane.

"Mommy," Charlotte said matter-of-factly, pointing to the picture.

"That _is_ Mommy," said Jane. "Are you as proud of her as I am?"

"Uh huh," said Charlotte, although she couldn't possibly have understood why they were supposed to be proud. Maura chuckled and went to see a store employee about getting set up for the signing.

To Maura's surprise, other people besides Angela's book club showed up for her reading and Q&A session, and even more came in after the signing started. She smiled when she saw Diana come up to the table with a copy of the book in her hands.

"I already signed yours!" said Maura.

"I know, but I couldn't resist! I'm getting this one for my sister-in-law. She loves mysteries, and she'll get a kick out of reading a book from an author I know personally."

"Oh, what's her name?"

"Susan."

"Okay." Maura turned to the title page and wrote, _To Susan- I hope you enjoy it! Maura Isles-Rizzoli._ She cringed at how unoriginal that sounded. She was so bad at this.

"Thanks!" said Diana. "She'll be thrilled!"

Diana walked away and the line moved along without incident. The line wasn't exactly snaking around the store, but it was longer than she had expected for her first signing. Every now and then she glimpsed Frankie or Nina casually wandering around. Jane took Charlotte to the children's section for a while, but eventually the toddler got bored and started wandering around the store, Jane close behind her. At one point she ran up to Maura and climbed into her lap, so Maura had to work around her until she grew restless and got back down. Maura didn't mind though, and the readers seemed to think it was cute.

"Pretty good turnout," said a voice behind her when the line was gone and she was starting to pack up. She jumped and looked to see Diana behind her.

"Oh, I thought you'd left!" said Maura.

"I was just browsing a bit. It's hard to walk out of a bookstore!"

"I agree! Sometimes Jane's afraid to stop at bookstores with me because she knows I'll get lost in there."

"She's a patient woman. She puts up with a lot for you! She was here for your whole book signing, and she goes to all your fencing tournaments."

"Studies actually show that married couples are happier when they support each other's individual interests. Seeing your spouse do something she's good at, but that you don't know how to do, is exciting. It makes the spouse more fascinating. That's why she enjoys my writing and fencing, and I enjoy watching her play softball and hockey, or play the piano."

"Still, she's willing to sacrifice a lot for you. She even gave up her job."

"That was her choice. She didn't do that for me."

"Really? That's not what she told me."

"When did you talk to her about it?"

"At one of our tournaments. I dropped out way before you did, so I sat with Jane for a while. She told me how much she loved being a cop, but that she had to leave because you didn't want her to be a cop anymore."

"No, you must have misunderstood. I never asked her to leave her job. She wanted to have more time at home, and she didn't like doing such dangerous work when she had a family that needed her. Also, she wanted to get pregnant, and she knew she couldn't be in the field if she was."

"Yeah, she said something about how she had to carry this baby because you had a hard time with labor."

"I thought it went pretty smoothly," said Maura, frowning. "She told me she wanted to experience carrying a child."

"Well, it's been a while since we had that conversation. I might remember it wrong. I just got the impression she wasn't enjoying the pregnancy that much, that she was doing it for you."

"You definitely misunderstood. She's been enjoying it a lot."

"Yeah, I probably did. Anyway, it was good to see you. I can't wait to give Susan her signed book!"

Maura waved goodbye as Frankie and Nina walked up.

"I think we're gonna head out," said Frankie. "We didn't see any suspicious behavior."

"Congratulations on your signing!" said Nina, giving her a hug. "A lot of people wanted you to sign their books! I'm so proud of my famous sister-in-law!"

"Thanks," said Maura, blushing. "And thank you both for being here, and for being subtle. It did make me feel safer, but you managed to do it without scaring any of the guests."

"You ready to go, Hot Celebrity Author?" said Jane's voice behind her.

Maura turned, smiling. "I'm ready."

"Good. Let's go out to eat, the three of us. We'll celebrate your newfound fame."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," insisted Maura.

"Whatever. You wrote a book, people bought it, they liked it, they asked you to sign it, and nothing bad happened. Now we celebrate."

Maura knelt down in front of Charlotte. "Do you want to go get dinner?"

"Yeah," said Charlotte, holding up two board books. "My books."

"I bought her two books. She couldn't settle on just one," said Jane. "You've taught her well."

"That's my girl," said Maura approvingly, looking over the books: a counting book and a book about love. "I can't wait to read these to you! Let's get your coat on, my little bookworm."

Maura didn't let herself worry much about what Diana had said. She was sure she'd simply misunderstood Jane. Jane never felt like she _had_ to quit her job. She left because she _wanted_ to. Of course she missed it, but she'd made the decision to put her family first. They had talked about it, and Maura had made it very clear she would support Jane either way. She had even cried on Jane's last day. There was no way Jane could think Maura wanted her to leave.

Maura pushed the conversation out of her mind while she, Jane, and Charlotte went to dinner, and she refused to think of it at home when they were putting Charlotte to bed. There was a movie Jane wanted to watch on TV, so Maura volunteered to make popcorn. It was when she was in the kitchen by herself that the thoughts crept back in. Was it possible that Jane _did_ feel she had no choice but to change jobs? Was she miserable in her new job? But she should have told Maura if she wasn't happy. That was one of the rules of a healthy marriage: you had to communicate. How could she pretend to Maura that she was perfectly happy with her life and then tell Diana, _behind Maura's back_ , that she wasn't? Maura trusted Jane to be honest with her. Had she told everyone else the same thing? Was Maura the only one who didn't know how Jane really felt?

And the baby. That was the worst part. Jane knew Maura would have been glad to carry both babies. In the beginning, she had assumed she would. She had very much enjoyed her pregnancy with Charlotte. Not every aspect of course, but she loved feeling Charlotte move around inside her. She loved having her unborn child with her all the time. She sometimes found it hard being on the outside now with Eva, but it was worth it because she wanted Jane to have the experience. Jane had said she wanted it. Maura's own pregnancy and labor had gone quite well, so there wasn't any reason why Jane should feel like she had to do it for her this time. Why would she take this experience away from Maura, who would have enjoyed it, if she didn't want it herself?

When the popcorn was finished, Maura dumped it into a bowl and carried it to the living room, along with a small glass of wine for herself. Jane was lounging on the couch, cradling her stomach, eyes on the TV. She certainly looked content, but maybe that was just what she wanted Maura to believe. Maura set the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table with so much force that some of the popcorn bounced out. She didn't bother picking it up. Instead she stormed across the room, sat down in a chair by herself, and started sipping her wine.

"Well okay then," said Jane, pushing herself into a sitting position. "It would appear that I have done something to offend you."

"You might say that."

"Would you mind telling me what it was? Everything seemed fine when we came downstairs."

"I had more time to think about it. Look, if you want to be a cop, then go back to being a cop when your maternity leave is over. You didn't have to leave on my account."

"Well, I didn't leave just on your account. I left because I was missing out on Charlotte's life, remember? You were able to cut back your hours because you have Kent, but that wasn't possible for me. The only way to get enough time with her was to get a different job. I miss being a cop, but I love being with you and Charlotte more. I have no plans of going back. Why is this suddenly a thing you're worried about?"

"Diana says you told her at a fencing tournament that you didn't want to leave your job, but you felt you had to for me."

"Honey, Diana misunderstood. I remember talking to her once about why I left, and I told her I missed it, but that leaving was the best thing for you and Charlotte. She must have taken that the wrong way."

"She also said you didn't sound like you were enjoying the pregnancy, but you were doing it because I had such a hard time with labor." She blinked back tears.

Jane frowned. "Well, she's way off on that one. I _am_ enjoying the pregnancy, and you didn't have a hard time with labor. I've been really worried about how the hell I'm going to measure up. You set the bar kind of high by coasting through with no drugs. Now if _I_ ask for drugs, I'm going to look like a wimp. You were such a fucking badass, you never even complained about the pain. I could tell it hurt a lot, but you didn't complain."

Maura shrugged. "It didn't hurt any more than it was supposed to."

"That's my point! You just accepted it and did your badass thing. Can you see _me_ getting through labor without complaining?"

Maura couldn't help smiling. "No."

"I remember telling Diana how much it sucked having to pee so often. She asked me why I was pregnant this time, and I told her I wanted to have a turn, and that it was hard seeing you in so much pain when you had Charlotte and that I didn't want to put you through that again. I may have also mentioned my concerns about your elevated risk of complications. I never said you couldn't handle labor, or that I didn't like being pregnant. She leapt to those conclusions on her own."

"She is sometimes a bit quick to assume things," admitted Maura.

"Yeah, and I think her own marriage is so crappy, it's hard for her to imagine anyone actually being happy. Don't let her bring you down like that."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you."

"Well, I guess I'll forgive you this time," Jane said melodramatically. "Do you have to sit way over there?"

"No," said Maura, getting up from her chair and gratefully joining her wife on the couch. She put her arms around Jane and laid her head on her shoulder, truly ashamed that she had let herself get so worked up over something she should have known was wrong.

"You know how I feel about you, right, sweet girl?" Jane murmured. Maura nodded. "Then you should know how amazing it is for me to have a tiny baby made from you growing inside of me. I feel like I have to pinch myself every day. Anyone who thinks I'm not into this doesn't know me very well."

"Diana _has_ spent a lot more time with me than she has with you."

"True, but I don't really appreciate her suggesting that I am anything less than thrilled to be having this baby. This is a huge deal to me. And putting doubts in my wife's mind? That's a serious crime in my book."

"I don't think she meant any harm." Maura lightly traced Jane's belly.

"Maybe not, but she needs to watch it. Our marriage is never going to suck like hers. I won't let that happen."

"I won't either," promised Maura.

"A real friend wouldn't want that for you."

"I don't think she _wants_ it. I think she just sees in other people what she's used to in her own life. A lot of people do that. It might be good for her to have friends with a strong marriage, so she can see how love is supposed to be. Maybe it will inspire her to work on her marriage with Gary, or leave him and find someone else."

"Maybe," Jane said, sounding unconvinced. She took Maura's hand and moved it to a different spot so she could feel Eva's tiny kicks. Maura immediately broke into a grin, pushing back and feeling Eva kick in response.

"She's gotten a lot more active lately," said Jane, grabbing a handful of popcorn. "And she wiggles more when she hears your voice."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she knows her Mommy. She also reacts when she hears her grandma's voice, so I guess she knows who will be spoiling her rotten as soon as she comes out."

"She's a lucky little girl," Maura said, still pushing at Jane's belly to provoke her into kicking back. "She has so much waiting for her out here."

Jane stroked Maura's hair. "It's a lot more than you had, wasn't it?"

Maura nodded. "No one was excited about my arrival. I wasn't exactly _wanted_."

"Well you're wanted now."

Maura smiled up at Jane. "I'm going to talk to Eva more since she likes my voice."

Jane chuckled. "Okay. I've seen this movie before anyway." She lay back down and Maura bent down with her face close to Eva. She kissed Jane's bump lovingly.

"Hello Eva," she said shyly. "I'm your Mommy, and I love you very much, just like your Mama and your sister Charlotte and your Grandma and your uncles Frankie and Tommy and your Aunt Nina and your cousin T.J. and your Granny and Granddad all love you. Also your Grandma Hope and your Aunt Cailin." She hesitated a little on the last two. Hope and Cailin's feelings could be a little difficult to discern, but she thought they loved Charlotte, so they would surely love Eva too. They just wouldn't have the kind of presence the Rizzoli side of the family had in their lives.

"Remember when you were pregnant and I told Charlotte the story of how we met?" Jane asked Maura.

"Yes," said Maura, smiling fondly.

"You should tell Eva that story. I'd love to hear what your side would sound like."

"Okay." She lovingly caressed Jane's belly. "Would you like to hear the story of how your mommies met? It _is_ important for you, because if we hadn't met, you wouldn't exist. The very first time I met your Mama, she was trying to buy breakfast in a café and she was wearing fishnet pantyhose, which is probably something you will never see her wear."

"I think I can guarantee that," said Jane.

"She was actually a police detective, but her outfit made me think she was in a different profession. I thought she was sexy though."

"I knew it! You tried to pick me up!"

"I did not try to pick her up. I simply offered to pay for her breakfast because she didn't have enough cash on her, but she declined my offer."

"Sorry. I should have let you pick me up."

"I was not trying to pick you up. I didn't see your Mama again until a long time later, when she switched from the drug unit to Homicide. I was the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, just like I am now. I was very happy with my job, but I didn't really have any friends at work. Most people thought I was weird and standoffish. Then your Mama came down one day to watch an autopsy. It was her first homicide, and as soon as I saw her I recognized her and felt very embarrassed, because she was obviously a cop and not the profession I'd thought she was. I apologized, but she wasn't mad and we ended up laughing about it. We talked a lot while I did the autopsy. I was very impressed with how much she cared about the process. Most cops just want to know the results, but she was interested in everything. She let me explain what I was doing the whole time. It made it so much more enjoyable."

"Just when you thought cutting up a dead body couldn't get any more fun, right?"

"After that, every time we saw each other at a crime scene, your Mama would come over and talk to me. She didn't just talk about the body. She would make jokes and talk about whatever was on her mind. I started hoping she would be on the case every time I was called to a crime scene. She also came to watch every autopsy when she was on the case, and eventually she started coming down just to talk when she was frustrated or had nothing to do. I couldn't believe I was the person she wanted to talk to. I loved listening to her talk because she was everything I wasn't: loud, confident, funny, fearless, irreverent. And she was different from all the other cops, because she really listened to me. I knew she thought I was weird, but it didn't scare her away. She even seemed to like it a little."

"I can't help it. I dig weird chicks."

Maura giggled. "Then she started bringing me out with her to the bar where all the cops went after work. I was nervous about hanging out with the other cops because I knew they would find me strange. But your Mama made sure they were nice to me, and soon they started to like me too. Your Mama, she made people give me a chance. She knew I had a hard time with people sometimes. I couldn't always tell when they were joking, and it was hard for me to figure out what to say to people I didn't know well. I'm still not very good at small talk. But your Mama helped me understand people better. She explained things that confused me, and she told me what to do when I didn't know how to act. She made my life easier. Now even when she's not with me, I'm a lot more confident than I used to be. One night she came to my house for the first time ever, and she called me her best friend. Nobody had ever called me that before."

"That was the first time I called you that?"

"Yes. It took a lot of effort not to react."

"Hmm, okay. I didn't really know when I first said it. I know I thought it for a long time before then."

"Your Mama is still my best friend," Maura told Eva. "As time passed, we spent more and more time together outside of work. I went to her softball games and cheered for her. She ran a marathon with me. I bought a new house and then I let her mom, your Grandma, move in with me. That made us even closer because then her whole family started gathering at my house. I loved it because I'd always wanted to be part of a big family, but my favorite part was spending so much time with your Mama.

"I'm not really sure when I fell in love with her. I think it was a slow process. I always found her attractive, but I didn't realize I'd really fallen for her until I had a dream one night about us as a couple. I couldn't get rid of the feeling in the dream, but I was afraid to tell her. I didn't know how she would react. Then one night she told me she loved me, and then she kissed me. I felt like the happiest woman in the world! But she's made me even happier since then. One day we were in a tree house in Costa Rica, and she asked me to marry her. So then we planned the most beautiful wedding, and then we went on a lovely honeymoon. Someday I'll show you pictures from both of them. After we were married, we decided we wanted to have children together, because we thought we would be good mommies and each of us wanted to see the other as a mommy. So first we had your sister Charlotte, and now we're having you. You're the one who is going to make our family complete."

"She is," murmured Jane.

Maura sat up and looked at Jane, a troubling thought she'd had for months coming to the surface. "Do you worry she'll be weird like me?" she blurted out.

"Worry? Anything she gets from you will make me happy."

"Even bad things?"

"There aren't any bad things. I love every little weird thing about you."

"What if she wants to dissect frogs instead of playing with other kids?"

"Then we'll set up a little mad scientist laboratory in the attic for her and tell the neighborhood kids to fuck off."

"Other kids might make fun of her. They made fun of me. A lot."

"If they do, I will deal with them."

"But we can't be with her at school."

"Her big sister will. I always beat up kids who messed with my little brothers. I mean, I tormented them myself, but I didn't like it if _other_ kids did. You never had an older sibling to stick up for you."

"No. I didn't," Maura admitted. "I didn't have parents I felt I could talk to, either."

"However she turns out, Eva will be just fine. We're going to take care of her. And we'll all love her, no matter what." She heaved herself into a sitting position and reached for Maura, running her fingers through her hair. "You know I think you're the most perfect person alive. The world needs more of you. The only thing we have to worry about is Eva getting mob boss genes."

Maura looked at her sharply.

"I'm kidding," Jane said with a laugh. "There's no such thing as mob boss genes. And if there were, _you_ would have to have them before you could give them to Eva. And I don't _think_ you're a mob boss, unless you're keeping a very big secret."

"I'd tell you if I were," Maura promised with a giggle.

"Good." Jane stretched. "Maybe we should move this party up to the bedroom. The three of us can have a little more room up there."

"Good idea." Maura finished her wine and took what was left of the popcorn to the kitchen while Jane went about her nightly routine of checking all the doors to make sure they were securely locked. Maura fetched Charlotte's monitor from the living room and then started to go upstairs when she noticed a small piece of paper on the floor near the coat tree. She went back with a feeling of dread. It must have fallen from someone's pocket, or from a bag, maybe from between the pages of a book. It could be anything, really, she tried to tell herself. It might be just the receipt for the books Jane bought for Charlotte. But as she got closer, she could see it wasn't the right shape to be a receipt. She knew what it was. Why couldn't they just leave her in peace? What was this person hoping to accomplish?

She took a latex glove from her purse, this time hoping to preserve any fingerprints that might be present. Her fingers trembling, she turned over the note and read the familiar handwriting:

 _YOU DON'T DESERVE THIS._


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Mama, look!" Charlotte peered through one of the windows in the castle play tent Jane had given her for her second birthday, which was today. It was a pretty sweet little tent, with little windows on each side and a curtain that could be closed over the doorway. And it was gray, like a real castle, not one of those silly pink princess castles. This castle was more versatile. Charlotte could pretend to be a princess if she wanted to, or she could be a knight. Or both. Jane had also gotten her a picture book called _The Princess Knight,_ to remind her that she didn't have to choose.

"Do you like your new castle?" Jane asked her.

"Yes!" said Charlotte excitedly.

"Charlotte, we can pretend you're the queen, and I'm the king," said T.J., climbing into the tent with her.

"I'm a pincess," Charlotte informed him. She exited the tent and went to dig around in her toy chest, then came running back with her little foam sabre. "I'm a pincess," she repeated.

Jane chuckled. "She thinks princesses are supposed to have swords," she told Maura.

"In her make-believe world, princesses can do whatever she wants them to do," Maura replied, smiling proudly.

"Okay, so either I can be your dad the king or your brother the prince," T. J. told her. Charlotte responded by "stabbing" him with her foam sabre.

"I think you're the dragon she's going to slay," said Jane with a laugh. "Hey little warrior princess, are you ready for cake?"

"Yeah!" Charlotte shouted.

"Come on, then. I'll light your candles."

Everyone filed back into the dining room, which was currently an explosion of color with all the _Sesame Street_ decorations. Above the fireplace was a banner that said _THIS BIRTHDAY WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER C AND THE NUMBER 2_. Charlotte scrambled up into a chair and Angela set a tiered cake in front of her. The bottom tier had Sesame Street characters going around it, while the top tier had a little street sign that said "Charlotte Street." There were two candles on top.

"Let me take your picture first!" Maura implored, brandishing the fancy camera she'd gotten back before Charlotte was born. She had told Jane she wanted high quality photographs of her child's milestones, not blurry cell phone pictures. Maura certainly did take a lot of pride in her little girl. As always, she had her dressed beautifully from head to toe, with a pretty light blue dress, a headband with white fabric roses, and little Mary Janes with rhinestone hearts on the straps. She'd even fastened a little gold-plated ID bracelet onto her wrist, a tiny mother-of-pearl butterfly perched next to Charlotte's name. Jane figured by the end of the party the pretty dress would have food down the front, the headband would be lost somewhere, and the shoes would probably be in different rooms, but at least Maura would get her cute pictures first.

Jane fumbled in the sideboard for matches, then lit the candles. Maura snapped a few pictures while everyone sang and then told Charlotte to blow the candles out, which she did, albeit with a big shower of spit. Jane thought of last year when she had to blow out the candle herself because Charlotte didn't know how yet, and tears pricked her eyes. It was going too fast.

"How is she two already?" Maura said quietly, sidling up to Jane as Angela cut a piece of cake for Charlotte. "It feels like she just turned one."

"I know," said Jane. "Before we know it she'll be too big to carry, and then next thing we know she'll be packing up for college."

"Don't say that!" Maura took Jane's arm as if trying to hold them in the moment, to keep those horrible things from happening. She let go again when Angela handed them each a slice of cake, an extra big one for Jane since she was eating for two.

"I know how my Ma feels now," said Jane. "Now I get why she wanted grandkids so bad! The first set grows up too fast, so then you want another set. I get it."

"We still have a long way to go before we're done with this set. Eva isn't even here yet," Maura pointed out reasonably. "I wouldn't change anything about Charlotte, but I do hope Eva likes being cuddled. Charlotte's too busy to be cuddle most of the time, but I love holding her when she does let me."

"Yeah, Ma says I was the same why. Now I understand why she complains about the way I used to squirm off her lap. I wish Charlotte would just be still and receive affection more often." She looked at Maura. "Is this what parenting is? Constantly realizing your mother has been making sense after all?"

Maura shrugged. "I haven't really had that experience."

"No, I guess not. All your mom ever says is that she wishes she'd been there more."

Maura smiled grimly. "I'm trying to make sure that's something I never have to say."

Charlotte's little fork clattered to the floor and Charlotte, unconcerned, began eating the cake with her bare hands. She hadn't quite developed an appreciation for silverware yet. Jane bent to pick up the fork but stopped halfway when she felt a shooting pain in her lower back.

"I'll get it," said Maura, gently rubbing Jane's back before grabbing the fork.

"Thanks. Eva's starting to put a bit of a strain on my back," said Jane.

"And it's only going to get worse," said Maura sympathetically.

"I know. Three more months." She rubbed her burgeoning belly affectionately. "She'll be worth it though. I'll put up with it as long as she comes out healthy." That must have been a good thing to say, because Maura smiled adoringly at her in response. "Here, I'll take your plate to the kitchen. I'm not completely useless."

Jane took both their plates into the kitchen, where she had seen Nina go a minute earlier. Nina was pouring herself a glass of water.

"Hey," said Jane, checking to make sure no one was around. "I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to run a background check on someone."

Nina frowned. "Who is it? You don't have a suspect in the killings, do you?"

"Not a killing suspect, but a note suspect. I want you to look into Maura's friend Diana North. I'm not sure what her maiden name is, and I hope I'm wrong, but something just seems off about her, and she definitely could have given Maura any of those notes. Easily."

"Have you told Maura about your suspicions?"

"I told her Diana's behavior is concerning me, but she insists that Diana doesn't mean any harm, that she's just an awkward, unhappy person. I don't want to tell her I think Diana might have written the notes until I have stronger evidence because it'll only upset her."

"So you want me to do a background check on Maura's friend without Maura knowing."

"Please?"

Nina shook her head. "I don't feel comfortable doing this behind Maura's back. If _she_ wants me to do a check, I will, but I'm not going to check out her friend without her knowledge or consent."

"But…don't you want to protect Maura?"

"Sure, but if you really think her friend might be dangerous, you should tell _her_."

"But she's so trusting. She sees the best in everyone. I'll never convince her that Diana could be behind this without proof. We have arguments like this all the time because she thinks I'm too suspicious of everyone and I think she's too trusting."

Nina laughed. "You two are a perfect match."

"She thinks Diana is like how she used to be, back before she met me. She was lonely and didn't have many friends until I came along and pulled her into my circle, and she wants to do the same for Diana. She'll say how people used to think badly of her too. She'll never believe anything bad about Diana until I have concrete evidence, so I'm trying to get it."

"I hear you, but you're not getting it from me. What if Maura's right and she's just an unhappy woman who needs friends? What if Maura finds out we were investigating her friend behind her back because we don't trust her judgement? How is Maura going to feel then? I'm not doing that to her. Ask Frankie."

Jane sighed and went on a search for Frankie. She found him in the living room with Tommy, checking on the Celtics game.

"Hey Frankie," she said. "Could I get you to do a background check on someone for me?"

"Who?"

"Maura's friend Diana. I feel weird about her, and I asked Nina, but apparently the Rizzoli wives are sticking together now. She won't do it without Maura's blessing, and I'm trying to keep it on the down low for now."

"She was at the signing, right? Why do you have a problem with her?"

"I just feel like she could be the one writing those creepy notes to Maura. She could easily slip them to her without being noticed. She knows where we live. They change in the same locker room at fencing tournaments, so she's had access to Maura's things. And she was at the signing."

"Okay, but why would she write the notes?"

"I'm not sure. She does seem jealous of Maura, but I'm still not sure what purpose the notes serve. If she cared about Maura, she wouldn't want to make her feel less secure in her life. But if she doesn't care about Maura, why does she keep hanging around her? She was the one who struck up a friendship with Maura. She keeps asking Maura to do stuff with her, and she came to the book signing even though she already had a signed copy of Maura's book. She could just fuck off if Maura bothers her."

"Maybe she's trying to break up your marriage because she wants Maura," suggested Tommy.

"Or she wants _you_ ," said Frankie.

"I thought of that, but I've never gotten that vibe from her. Not in the way she interacts with either of us. Maybe it's just one of those misery loves company things."

"I can look her up, but there's only so much I can find out without a warrant," said Frankie.

"I know, but you could at least see if she has any priors or if anyone's ever filed a restraining order against her. And you could see if her prints are in the system."

"I'll try, but I don't know if it'll help anything. All we got on the note were a few partials that didn't match anything, and we didn't see anything suspicious on the security camera footage from the bookstore."

"You said yourself the security cameras were crappy. _Someone_ gave her the note at that signing. Whoever it is has the sense to try not to touch the notes too much. That wouldn't take a genius. They're giving threatening notes to a medical examiner who's married to a detective."

"We're still doing our best to figure out who's behind the notes," Frankie promised, "but the serial killer is still our top priority. It was different when we thought the notes were part of that."

"And maybe they are. Our current working theory is that they're separate, but we could have been right the first time."

"You know if Nina didn't want to do it because she thought Maura would be upset, she's probably right."

"I know. I'm just hoping I'm wrong about Diana and Maura will never have to know I even thought about it. It's something she's sensitive about, you know? She's not good at picking up on people's ulterior motives. She expects everyone to be good like her. She's been in multiple situations where she trusted someone and got burned, and she always feels so stupid. I hate that people do that to her. But I don't want her to become cynical like me. It's my job to look out for her so she doesn't have to be like that."

"I don't think Maura's _capable_ of being like you," said Frankie.

The doorbell rang and Jane went to the window to see who it was. "Speak of the motherfucking devil," she muttered. She went out to the foyer, where Maura was already opening the door for Diana.

"Hey," said Diana. "I can't stay, I just wanted to drop by a present for the little birthday girl!"

"That's so nice of you!" said Maura. "Charlotte, come here! There's another present for you!"

Charlotte came running out to the foyer, dark curls bouncing on her shoulders.

"Hey! Happy birthday!" said Diana, handing her the gift. "How old are you now?"

"Two!" shouted Charlotte, ripping the paper off her present.

"Oh, it's a baby doll," said Maura. "That makes sense, Charlotte, because we're having a new baby soon."

"I tried to find one with brown hair so it would kind of look like her," said Diana.

"That was very thoughtful," said Maura, taking the doll out of the box and handing her to Charlotte. "Charlotte sweetie, what do you say?"

"Fank you," said Charlotte before running off to play. Jane chuckled inwardly at how similar her "thank you" sounded to "fuck you," which might actually be more appropriate in this situation.

"She's so cute," said Diana. "By the way, my sister-in-law _loved_ your book. She wants to know when the next one's coming!"

"I'm glad she liked it! Tell her I'm hoping to get the next one finished by the end of this year, but I can't make any promises, with the new baby coming and everything. Would you like a piece of cake?"

"Oh, no thanks, I need to run."

"Oh, you have to have just one piece," said Jane, stepping out of the doorway. "It's _really_ good cake. You don't want to miss it. Maura, just get her a small piece."

"You'll love it," Maura promised Diana, hurrying off to the dining room. Jane shook her head. The woman was completely without guile, which was why Jane had to be so protective.

"It was nice of you to bring a present," said Jane, moving closer to Diana.

"Oh, it was really nothing," said Diana with her usual laugh.

"I'm glad you didn't go to any trouble." Jane stopped when she was only about a foot away from Diana. "I haven't seen you since the book signing. You know, Maura came home a bit upset after that signing. You'd put some kind of weird ideas in her head about me not wanting to be pregnant."

Diana took a step back. "It was just a misunderstanding. I didn't mean to upset her or anything."

"I hope that's true, because if you _did_ mean to upset her, I'd have to say you really don't know who you're messing with."

Diana looked at her uncertainly. "I'm not trying to mess with anyone."

"I'm _so_ glad to hear that. Because I love my wife more than you can possibly understand, and her life may not be perfect, but she has been through hell and she deserves every damn thing she has. We fought for all of this, and no one's fucking taking a single thing away from her."

"Okay! I'm not _trying_ to take anything away from her!"

"Good!" said Jane with a smile as Maura returned with a slice of cake and a fork for Diana. "Enjoy your cake," said Jane, giving Maura a kiss on the cheek before returning to the living room.

"That was kinda creepy," said Tommy. "You were just talking about her and then she showed up."

"Ma always said don't speak of the devil or he'll appear," said Jane. "I should have listened to her.

"Yeah," said Frankie, sounding distracted. "Listen, there's something I wanted to tell you guys, but don't tell Ma yet, okay?"

"Okay," said Jane, sitting next to him on the couch. "What is it?"

"It…looks like Nina might be pregnant. She took one of those home tests yesterday, and it was positive."

"Oh, Frankie! That's wonderful!" Jane wrapped her brother in a big hug.

"Yeah. We weren't really trying yet, but…it just happened."

"At least you know it's yours," said Tommy. "I think you'll be a good dad."

"You will," agreed Jane. "You'll be a wonderful father."

"I hope so. It's still really early, so we wanna hold off a little longer on telling Ma, so she won't get all excited and then be disappointed if something goes wrong. But Nina already told her sister, so she said I could tell you guys."

"Can I tell Maura? If Nina hasn't already?"

"Yeah, just don't say anything in front of Charlotte. I know we can't trust _her_ to keep a secret."

"It's gonna be weird, all three of us being parents," said Tommy. "Look at us. I have a kindergartener, you're having a baby now, and even Jane's knocked up."

"Jane." Maura appeared in the doorway, looking stern.

"Someone's in trouble," Frankie muttered as Jane heaved herself up from the couch. She followed Maura back out to the foyer.

"Jane, Diana said you 'went psycho' on her over what she said at my signing."

"She upset you."

"I know, Jane, but it really wasn't her fault. She misunderstood. I should have known what she was saying was wrong. I know you so much better than she does. If you're going to be mad at someone, it should be me."

"I don't like being mad at you. You're too pretty."

Maura laughed a little. "I know you always want to protect me, but really, it's okay."

"How do you know she wasn't trying to cause trouble on purpose?"

"She's my friend," insisted Maura. "She wouldn't do that."

"Okay, bigger question: why was she here? Did you invite her?"

"Not exactly," said Maura. "I mentioned planning for the party and she asked when it was, so I told her and said she could stop by if she wanted to."

"Hmm. Interesting." She really was inserting herself into their lives whenever she could. It didn't make a lot of sense if she hated Maura. Was it some sort of mixture of love and hate, jealousy and admiration? She hoped not. That sort of obsession could get very dangerous.

"Jane, you're not going to start analyzing everything she does like she's one of your murder suspects, are you?" Maura asked exasperatedly.

"Maybe, but do you want to talk about that, or do you want to hear the very exciting news I just heard?"

"News? What kind of news?"

"We're getting a new niece or nephew in about nine months or so."

Maura's eyes widened. "Frankie and Nina?"

"Yep. Don't tell anyone though. Only siblings know for now."

Maura broke into a grin. "That means there are _two_ pregnant women in the family now! And the new baby will be only about six months younger than Eva! Oh, they're all going to have so much fun playing together. I always wondered what it would be like to grow up with a bunch of cousins my own age."

"Noisy. It's very, very noisy."

Maura giggled.

XXX

"Okay, here's your scenario," Jane said to her class. "In this fictional case, women are being abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered. The MO is similar in some ways to an unsolved spree of murders that happened over twenty years ago, but you don't know if they're connected or not. The women in the recent murders were all last seen in the same residential neighborhood, which you have already canvassed. Here are the neighbors who don't have alibis for the murders." She opened a diagram she had made on the SMART Board. "House number one: a couple in their forties, one man, one woman, both professionals. Neighbors say they keep to themselves. House number two: a lesbian couple in their fifties. Both are college professors, friendly and involved in the neighborhood. House number three: a disabled man in his nineties, has been retired forever, total grouch. House number four: a couple in their thirties, both elementary school teachers, very involved in the neighborhood. Three small children. House number five: two male graduate students who are renting the place together – roommates, not a couple. They have friends over sometimes but don't talk to the neighbors that much. And finally, in house number six, we have a single woman in her sixties. She's retired, friendly to her neighbors, but never has anyone over. So here's your task: one of these people is involved with the murders in some way. I want to know who you're going to focus on first and why. There is no wrong answer; you just have to provide good reasoning."

Jane watched as the recruits began discussing the problem with each other and then writing down answers, consulting the diagram for more detailed information. She was glad she had planned an activity that allowed her to stay at her desk instead of walking around lecturing, as she had barely slept the night before. This week she had officially entered her third trimester, and her stomach was already too big for her to get comfortable anymore. She'd never had any particular position she had to sleep in, but in the past the process of changing positions had always helped her get to sleep. Now there were only two positions she could sleep in: on her side, and on her other side. Lying on her stomach was no longer possible, and Maura said lying on her back this late in pregnancy would cut off circulation to some important vein or something. Her legs were also cramping like crazy, and she'd started having "practice" contractions, which weren't too bad but were still uncomfortable.

Last night had been particularly bad because Maura couldn't sleep either. Just as Jane had finally started to drift off, Maura had suddenly jumped over to Jane's side of the bed and then climbed out of bed on that side, dragging Jane with her and pulling her to the doorway.

"Maura, what the hell?" Jane had asked her.

"There's a man," Maura said frantically, switching on the light. They both stood blinking at the empty room.

"Sweetie, there's no one there," said Jane.

"I woke up and a man was just standing there in the dark, right next to the bed, staring down at me," Maura said uncertainly.

Jane walked around the room. There was definitely no one there. "I think you dreamed it, honey. We're the only ones here."

"I'm going to go check on Charlotte," said Maura. She returned a minute later, reported that Charlotte was sleeping peacefully, and got back in bed, shaking. Jane knew why this was happening. Today was the fifth anniversary of Maura's kidnapping at the hands of Jared Nielson.

They'd taken the morning to make their annual visit to the graves of the women who died. Jane was glad five years had passed, that they were getting more distance from that horrible event, but sometimes it still felt as fresh as ever. Jane kept thinking about the letter she'd gotten from Nielson. _She keeps calling your name,_ it had said. Today she was stuck on that line and the image it conjured of sweet Maura, drugged, confused, and terrified, repeatedly calling Jane's name in the desperate hope that she would hear and come save her. Of course Jane couldn't hear her, but all Maura had been able to understand was that she needed to get away, and Jane was the person she trusted to rescue her. She told Jane later that she'd hallucinated Jane a few times and had thought she was finally saved, but when she reached out to touch her, there was no one there after all. That was why when she came to in the hospital, the first thing she did was touch Jane's face. She was trying to make sure she was real.

It pained Jane to think about how much Maura trusted her when she had committed such a tremendous oversight in failing to predict that Nielson would target her. She was supposed to protect Maura, but she didn't, and Maura still thought of her as a hero. Now Jane was afraid there was something else she was overlooking, something that might put Maura in danger again. There seemed to be threats coming from two different directions. Jane was still waiting for Frankie's report on Diana's background, but she knew it was unlikely to provide any truly useful information. What she needed to do was figure out a motive for her writing the notes, and she wasn't sure about that yet.

And then there was the as-yet-unidentified killer, who posed an even more serious threat. It was irritating the hell out of Jane that they were making no progress on the case. She kept reading the articles over and over again, trying to figure out what detail she was missing. She was sure the answer was in there somewhere. Since half of her students already knew about them, she had decided to bring it all out in the open and read them as a class, asking her students to do their own analyses. It was a useful exercise for them, but Jane was also hopeful that one of their young minds, still new to the idea of police work, would be able to pick up on something the seasoned cops had overlooked.

When class ended, Jane gathered up her students' written responses and headed to her office. She decided to give Maura a call before reading the papers to make sure she was all right.

"Hey," Jane said when Maura picked up. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well. Just working," Maura said. "Nina says she went to the doctor yesterday and they confirmed the pregnancy. She's throwing up a lot, which is wonderful!"

"Yeah, what could be better?" Jane chuckled.

"I feel silly now for thinking there was a man in our bedroom last night. It was just a very vivid dream."

"Don't feel silly. We both have nightmares."

"I know, but you've had so much trouble falling asleep lately."

"It's okay. We both got some sleep in the end. I had a wacky dream of my own close to morning."

"What was it?"

"I dreamed I went into labor, but I couldn't get your attention. You were working on a case with Frankie, Nina, and Kent, and none of you would notice me. So I went outside to give deliver the baby by myself, and suddenly I was on deck in one of those big cruise ships with all the waterslides and stuff. I had to go down a slide and give birth at the bottom of it. I woke up before the baby came out, though, so I didn't get to see her."

"Oh, Jane. I'm sorry you feel so left out."

"What?"

"Well I'm not an expert at dream analysis, but it sounds like you feel locked out of a world you once belonged in. You saw me with all the people you used to work with, and we were working on a case without you and didn't notice you."

"So why was I giving birth on a cruise ship?"

"That does seem odd since we've never been on a cruise, considering your hatred of boats, but it's probably connected to your general anxiety about the birth, which is completely normal. Going down a slide could mean you're feeling a loss of control, which is a feeling many women have about childbirth. It's a situation you can't have complete control over, which has to be terrifying for someone like you. I had many of the same emotions, and I also had a lot of strange dreams about giving birth when I was pregnant."

"Yeah, I remember." Most of Maura's dreams had involved her finding out the baby was Nielson's, and Jane deciding she didn't want the baby because of that.

"We need to sit down soon and write up your birth plan. It'll put some of your anxiety to rest," Maura told her.

"Everyone always says the birth will never go according to plan."

"Mine did. Well, Charlotte's birth. My labor."

"What are the odds we'll be that lucky twice?"

"Learning relaxation techniques will also be good for you. I know you don't like relaxing, but you're going to need to try when you're in labor. Too much adrenaline can slow or even stall labor. Visualization worked best for me. I thought about our honeymoon because that was a time when I was completely relaxed and happy. It was warm and sunny, and you were there with me. We were newly married, and it was just the two of us doing whatever we wanted. I still picture that sometimes when I'm feeling stressed."

"I'll work on it. Frankie's trying to call, so I'm gonna let you get back to work. I'll see your gorgeous face tonight."

She called Frankie back as soon as she hung up with Maura.

"I finally got done researching Maura's friend," Frankie told her. "I didn't really find anything that makes her look guilty, but I can give you a rundown of what I did find."

"Go for it."

"Well, she was born May 1, 1969 in Camden, New Jersey. Her dad was an exterminator and her mom worked on and off as a waitress."

"Wow. So she definitely married up."

"Yeah. Her parents are dead. She has one brother, who still lives in New Jersey. She moved to Boston after high school, where she worked several odd jobs and took classes part-time at Bunker Hill Community College. Never got a degree of any kind. She married Gary North in 1990 and hasn't worked anywhere since then. No kids, which you already know. She's had a few traffic tickets, but no arrests. Her husband owns several properties, but the house in Wellesley is the only one that has Diana's name as well."

"Did you look at Gary's family at all?"

"He grew up around Boston, and his family's filthy rich. His father and grandfather ran banks, just like him, and they have some kind of trust fund. I didn't dig too deeply."

"Okay, well, thanks for looking. Maybe I'm wrong about Diana. I really don't want whoever's doing this to Maura to be a friend of hers. She's just gonna feel shitty again and she doesn't deserve that."

"I know. I'll tell you if I run across anything else."

Jane began reading through the students' papers as soon as she got off the phone with Frankie. As she predicted, most students wanted to focus on the two male grad students, as they were the only single, able-bodied men on the block. She had thought the same thing during the real investigation, but the actual single men were quickly ruled out as suspects because they had solid alibis. A few students thought one of the married men on the block should be questioned first, and one even wanted to zero in on the lesbian couple. Then she found a paper that made her think.

 _I would focus on the elderly man first,_ it read, _because he's the only man old enough to have committed the original crimes. He may not be capable of committing the more recent crimes, but he could know who is responsible or even be providing instructions._

Jane thought about the actual old man living in the neighborhood where the women had disappeared. He was only a few houses down from the bus stop, but they had ruled him out almost immediately do to his age and frail health. He was skin and bones, muscles atrophied, barely able to walk even with a cane. There was no way he could be physically involved with the recent murders.

But they had developed the neighborhood profile before learning about the similar rapes from years ago. Even when the most recent body turned up, the older crimes were just something they were keeping in the backs of their minds as a possible connection. It still wasn't adding up – Jane was in no way connected to the older crimes, so even if this old man was the rapist, there was no reason he would have it in for her – but it might be a big piece in this complicated puzzle. She picked up her phone and dialed Frankie again.

"I'm not sure," she said when he picked up, "but I think I may have just found a break in the case."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Maura woke up to find Jane still sleeping, a rarity these days. Jane was 35 weeks along and intensely uncomfortable. Maura remembered how it was: no position felt right, and when you finally did start to drift off, your bladder made you get back up. She knew Jane was exhausted from carrying all the extra weight around. They had just five weeks left if Eva went the full forty weeks; three weeks left if she decided to come at 38 weeks as Charlotte had done. Maura had been working hard to make sure everything was ready. Charlotte's old bassinet was now sitting right next to the bed on Jane's side, all ready to hold a sleeping baby when she arrived. They had also been going to a childbirth class over Jane's objections. It did cover the same ground as the one they had taken before Charlotte's birth, but that time Maura had practiced relaxation techniques with Jane's support. Maura wanted Jane to practice the techniques herself now, and she knew she'd never do it without a structured environment. She was quite concerned about Jane's inability to relax becoming a problem during labor.

But Jane was sound asleep now with her arms around Maura, their legs tangled together, her protruding belly pressed against Maura's stomach. Maura liked being like this; it almost felt like they were both pregnant with Eva. She gently caressed Jane's belly, trying to picture the baby inside. It was strange and exciting to think of her biological child growing inside of Jane instead of in her, as she'd always imagined it. Jane must really love her to want to do this. It certainly made her love Jane more to see her doing it.

It was the beginning of May and Maura could see sunshine coming in around the drapes, but Jane was frowning in her sleep. "Maura," she muttered, sounding agitated.

"Jane?" Maura said hesitantly. "I'm here. Everything's fine."

Jane opened her eyes. "Hey," she said, stretching.

"I think you were having a bad dream."

Jane rubbed her face and then touched Maura's hair. "Yeah. It's a dream I keep having."

"What's it about?"

"People trying to hurt you, and me not being able to protect you because I'm too pregnant."

"Oh, Jane." Maura kissed her. "I'm fine. Nobody's trying to hurt me."

"But they _are_. Someone's writing hurtful notes to you, and somebody else is killing people who look like you and writing defaming articles. Either of those people might try to physically hurt you. And I can't stop thinking about that old man, whether he might be connected. I know he said he knew nothing about the murders, and Frankie wasn't sure he was sharp enough to be part of it since he didn't even know what day it was, but he had a computer in his living room. How many 88-year-old men know how to use a computer? That tells me he's sharper than he seems. And he's a total grouch. He has a 'no trespassing' sign facing his next-door neighbor's yard. Who does that?"

"You'll figure it out. I think it was pretty smart to talk to him in the first place."

"It wasn't even my idea. It was one of the recruits."

"You were smart to give them that assignment, and to take your student's idea seriously."

"We'd need more evidence to get a warrant to search his house or do a DNA test. We can't nail him for any of the old rapes anyway because they all happened more than 25 years ago, and the statute of limitations for rape in Massachusetts in six years. Which is stupid. Why is there even a statute of limitations on rape? I think it's as serious of a crime as murder. But, we might be able to get him on homicide for the woman who froze to death, if we can prove he did it."

"Even if you can't, I don't think he's much danger to anyone anymore. What we really need is for him to give us information on the murderer."

"Yeah. I don't think he's gonna do that willingly, assuming he even knows anything. Maybe he really is just a harmless old man."

"Maybe." Maura snuggled closer to Jane and closed her eyes, not wanting the day to start yet, but work had other ideas. Jane groaned as Maura's phone started to ring.

"No, I don't want you to go yet," Jane complained, grabbing at her wife. Maura rolled over and answered the phone, talking to the dispatcher while Jane resignedly dragged herself out of bed and waddled off to the bathroom.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news," Maura said when Jane got back.

"I assume the bad news is that someone was murdered," said Jane "What's the good news?"

"The good news is, you get to come with me."

"Oh, no. Another one?"

Maura nodded. "I'm going to take extra precautions, since this one is copying Hawthorne. There could be arsenic present. I'll to wear a suit while I examine the body and ask everyone else who handles the body to do the same until we can be certain there's no risk."

"Oh, Maura! Just let somebody else do it!"

"It's fine, Jane. I'll take all the proper safety measures. You, however, will keep your distance. I don't have any Tyvek suits in maternity sizes."

"Fine. Let me call Ma and see if she's here to watch Charlotte." Angela had been officially living in their basement apartment for a few months now, but she often spent the night at Ron's. She called the arrangement the best of both worlds. Jane said her mother was acting like a college student.

"If not, she has time to get here. We're not going anywhere until we've all eaten breakfast." Maura dialed her team to make sure they got the proper materials to the crime scene and went into her closet to find something to wear.

XXX

Frankie greeting them when they arrived at the crime scene. "She looks like a girl who was reported missing yesterday," he told them. "We'll have to get her parents in later for a positive ID, but she looks just like the picture. She's only eighteen, a high school senior. Her parents said she took the bus to meet her friends at the mall, and the friends say she caught the bus back home, but she never made it. We were hoping we'd find out she just went somewhere else without telling anyone, but it doesn't look like that's the case."

Maura looked at the young girl tied to the tree. She was blonde, but she didn't resemble Maura much at all. She supposed there were limited options when you were hunting in the same neighborhood all the time. "She appears to have multiple stab wounds, so it's possible she wasn't poisoned," said Maura. "I'll suit up just in case." She noticed Jane's worried look as she pulled her Tyvek suit on over her clothes. "It's only a precaution," she reminded her. "Even if there is poison, it's very unlikely I would come into contact with it. Think of all the times I didn't know a victim had been poisoned until after I started the autopsy, and I never got sick from it."

"Yeah, we just ended up showering together at work," said Jane.

"Ew, I don't need to know that!" said Frankie.

"We didn't really shower _together_ ," Maura told him. "The decontamination shower is barely big enough for _one_ person."

"I just watched," said Jane with a wicked smile. Frankie made a face.

Maura began her initial examination of the body once she had on all her protective gear.

"I'm already getting emails from students letting me know there's a new article up," she heard Jane say to Frankie. "I'm forwarding one to Nina so she can save it. Notice he didn't write 'bitch' on this victim. He only does that to the ones who look like me. What bugs me is, if this guy really is targeting me, he obviously knows the cases where Maura's gotten hurt are the ones that will upset me the most. The very first killer he copied was Nielson. He knows, just like Hoyt knew and everybody else knows, that the best way to hurt me is by hurting her. I can't keep watching her get hurt by people who hate me."

"No one's hurting Maura," Frankie promised. "Besides, the _first_ kill wasn't imitating any killer."

"No, but that one wasn't for us. That was for him. It was probably his very first kill. He wanted to make sure he could do it before he started his revenge killings or whatever these are. Maybe he wouldn't have killed at all if it weren't for me."

"I doubt that," said Maura, her voice muffled by the mask she was wearing. "His trigger may have been something he believes you did to wrong him, but anyone with a mindset that would allow him to rape and kill multiple people, particularly with these staged crime scenes, is disturbed enough that something would have triggered him sooner or later. And whatever you did that served as his trigger was almost certainly the right thing to do."

"I sure hope so," said Jane grimly. "So far six young women have lost their lives because of it."

XXX

Maura thought it best to wait about starting the autopsy until they were done testing for arsenic residue, so once she had taken her samples and brought them to the lab, she went upstairs to see if she could help with the article and solving the anagram. Jane had a very dark look on her face when she got there.

"Is it that bad?" Maura asked.

Jane nodded, motioning to Nina's computer. Maura went over to read the article.

MARITAL BLISS?

 _How an affair with a fellow police officer shattered former homicide detective Jane Rizzoli's "marriage" to medical examiner Maura Isles_

By Josh Airre

 _After years spent in a rocky, non-monogamous relationship, BPD detective Jane Rizzoli legally married her lesbian lover, wealthy medical examiner Maura Isles, on May 17, 2014. They seemed to be enjoying wedded bliss for the first six months, but Rizzoli's serial killer fetish was not to be silenced. Upon learning that fellow BPD cop Eric Hawthorne had been secretly murdering families for the past decade, Rizzoli began an affair with him, most likely without the knowledge of her "wife."_

 _Hawthorne was not content to stay on the sidelines, however, and he made it clear that he wanted Rizzoli all to himself. When she refused to leave Isles, Hawthorne murdered the ME by poisoning her coffee with arsenic, then abducted Rizzoli and took her to live in his home in Bedford, along with his teenage daughter. Unfortunately, Rizzoli was unable to adjust to family life with the Hawthornes and called the police, outing Hawthorne as the serial killer they had been looking for as well as Isles' murderer. He is now serving life without the possibility of parole, and Rizzoli is left alone with no spouse or lover. Perhaps the fortune she inherited from her "wife" can provide her with consolation – and possibly provide us with her real reason for choosing to legally marry the medical examiner._

At the bottom of the article was a picture of Maura with the caption _Maura Isles 1976-2015_.

"It says I'm dead," said Maura.

Jane nodded. "I expected it to say I was having an affair with Hawthorne, because that's been his pattern, but this is new. He hasn't said one of us was dead before."

"He's only saying it to upset us," said Maura reasonably.

"Maybe," said Jane. "But we already worked out the anagram. It's a short one, so it didn't take too long. It's Joe Harris."

Maura frowned. "Well that's odd. Joe Harris was working for Alice Sands and had no personal interest in either of us. It would have made more sense to use _her_ name."

"But he doesn't like giving credit to women," said Nina. "He's probably already writing an article that says Harris was the real brains behind that operation."

"What concerns me is that this means two people in a row who tried to kill Maura," said Jane. "Yes, Harris shot at me, but his only task was killing you. Hawthorne tried to kill you, but he never planned to kill me. I feel like he's working towards his endgame now and it involves hurting _you_. That's what they all want to do. They hurt you because they hate me." A tear slipped down Jane's face and Maura went over to take her hand.

"He won't hurt me," she said gently.

"How do you know?"

Maura smiled. "You won't let him."

Jane wiped her eyes with her free hand. "How am I supposed to protect you? I'm eight months pregnant and I don't carry a gun anymore."

"Your gun was never what made me feel safe."

Jane sniffed. "Is it worth it? Having your life threatened just because I love you so much? Is it really worth being with me if this is how it is?"

Maura squeezed her hand. "Absolutely."

The elevator doors opened and Kent rushed into the room. "Dr. Isles, you didn't touch the body at all, did you?"

"No, of course not! I used chemical barrier protection because of the risk of arsenic exposure. Not that I would ever touch a body with my bare hands."

"And the people who removed the body from the crime scene?"

"I made sure everyone handling the body wore the proper protective gear! Kent, what did you find?"

"The body is definitely contaminated with arsenic. In fact, it would appear that a liquid arsenic solution was poured over the entire body after it was tied to the tree. I took additional samples, including from the rope she was bound with. She would have already been dead at the time."

Maura frowned. "What was the point of pouring arsenic on a dead body? Was it in her bloodstream as well?"

"None detected in her bloodstream, but there was enough on her skin to potentially kill anyone who came into direct contact with her."

"He wasn't trying to _imitate_ Hawthorne's poisoning of Maura. He was trying to recreate it," said Jane, her face a mask of fury. "He knew Maura would probably be the first person to get close to the body. He was hoping to poison her, to kill her."

"It would only have worked if I weren't smart enough to take the proper precautions," Maura reminded her. "But I am, and I make sure the people who work for me do as well. Otherwise he could have killed my whole team."

"He's probably too dumb to realize you wouldn't actually come into contact with the body," said Jane. "You don't have to do the autopsy, do you?"

"Of course I do! But I will follow the protocol for a chemical hazard. I've dealt with this sort of thing before."

Maura noticed Frankie taking a call on his desk phone while they talked. "There's someone downstairs who says she saw something," he told them when he hung up. "I had them send her up."

"I'm going to wait and see if this information is helpful," Maura told Kent. "Could you go down and set up for the autopsy?"

As he left a woman got off the elevator and approached uncertainly.

"You're here about the missing girl?" Frankie asked her.

"Yes, about Hannah," the woman said. "I live near her. I saw her the day she went missing."

"Let's go into one of the interrogation rooms so we can sit down," said Frankie. Jane followed them into the room, where they all sat down at the table. Maura and Nina went into the observation room and turned on the sound.

"What's your name?" Frankie asked the woman, taking out a pen and paper.

"Amber Lemons. I live just a few houses down from the bus stop, so I see people walk by a lot. I glanced out my window yesterday afternoon and saw Hannah walking, like she was coming home from the bus stop, but she stopped in front of Harold's house. Harold is the man who lives next door to me. He was standing in front of his door and he said something to her, and then she went into his house."

Maura and Nina exchanged a look. Harold was the old man Jane and Frankie had questioned.

"Was this normal?" Jane asked. "Had you ever seen Hannah at Harold's before?"

"No, you rarely see anyone over there. He's not a very friendly person. But he's old and frail, so people go over to help him with things sometimes."

"So you think he could have been asking her for help?" asked Jane.

"It's possible. People feel sorry for him, but also a little scared. He yelled at my kids once for going into his yard to get a ball they lost. He put up a 'no trespassing' sign after that. He angled it so it faces my yard."

"Yeah, we saw that sign," said Frankie. "So did you ever see Hannah come back out of Harold's house?"

"No, but I wasn't paying attention. I saw her go in while I was in my daughter's room changing her bedsheets, but then I went to a different part of the house. I didn't think much of it until I saw in the paper this morning that Hannah is missing. I'm not sure Harold could have done anything, but I thought any information would help. Her parents must be going crazy."

"It's very helpful," Jane told her. "What about the other girls who have gone missing from your neighborhood? Did you ever see any of them talk to Harold?"

"I don't think so, but I have three kids under the age of five, so I usually have enough to do in my own house to pay much attention to what's going on outside. It was pure dumb luck that I saw anything this time. I hope Hannah wasn't killed like the other girls!"

"What time did you see Hannah at his house?"

"It must have been between 4:30 and five."

"Hannah's friends said she got on the bus at the mall around 4:15," Nina told Maura. "I don't think we're going to have any trouble getting a warrant to search his house now."

"I'll gladly do a DNA test if you can get a sample," said Maura.

"Have you ever seen anyone else at his house?" Frankie asked. "Not necessarily a neighbor, but anyone?"

"Not very often. Sometimes I've heard a car at night that I thought might be at his house, but I wasn't sure. Occasionally I've seen a red car in his driveway. I don't think I ever saw the driver though. He doesn't seem to have a family. He keeps to himself. Sometimes neighbors volunteer to mow his yard when it gets really bad, but we've kept our distance since he yelled at the kids."

Frankie gave her his card. "Call me if you see anything else, even if you're not sure it's related. And if you see the red car again, take down the license plate number, okay?"

Maura met Jane in the hall when she came out of the interrogation room.

"Frankie's gonna pick the old guy up and get a warrant to search his house," Jane told her. "I'm cancelling my afternoon class so I can be part of his interrogation."

"But you're staying here, right?" Maura asked. "You don't need to go with Frankie to pick him up. It could be dangerous."

Jane shook her head. "I'm staying here for that part."

"Good. I'm going to go down and start the autopsy. Because of the arsenic, it would be best if you didn't come down at all until we're done and everything has been decontaminated. Kent and I know the proper procedures to follow. Everyone else should steer clear."

Jane nodded her understanding. "Just be careful, okay?"

"I'm always careful," Maura promised her. She gave Jane a kiss before heading back downstairs.

XXX

Maura and Jane were both exhausted by the time they got home that evening. They didn't like discussing cases in front of Charlotte, so they tried to put it out of their minds and just enjoy some time with her for a while. As soon as they went to bed, however, their conversation turned back to the case.

"I'm looking forward to getting the DNA results back on the blood residue they found in Harold's house," Jane said, turning on her side to face Maura. "I bet it's Hannah's."

"Did they find anything else on the search?" Maura asked.

"They found what looks like a stash of trophies in a closet. A headband, an iPod, and a few other things young women have and old men usually don't. We'll bring in the families of the victims tomorrow to look through the stuff and see if they recognize anything."

"What about his computer?"

"It's gone. When we asked him where it was, he said he didn't have a computer. Claimed not to know how to use one. But Frankie and I both remember seeing it before. He must have gotten rid of it after we questioned him that time."

"That's not really the behavior of an innocent man."

"Not at all. I'm certain he raped those women years ago. When we asked him about it, he actually said, 'What would it matter if I did? It was too long ago for you to do anything about it now.' That was practically a confession. I bet he only stopped because he couldn't get it up anymore."

"About sixty percent of men in their sixties have mild to moderate erectile dysfunction, and that number only goes up with age," agreed Maura.

"I would think mild dysfunction would be enough to do you in when you're trying to be an evil serial rapist."

"Quite possibly."

"Anyway, the joke's on him, because if we can tie him to the rapes, we're going to get him for the woman who froze to death. And if we can place any of the murder victims in his house, he's going down for those crimes too, whether or not he decides to give up his partner."

"Can't they offer him a plea deal if he does tell you who his partner is?"

"Probably, but he's 88. He's going away for the rest of his life even if he does tell us. Hanging onto that piece of information could be the only thrill he has left."

"Did he know who you were? Could you find any reason for him to have a grudge against you, or against me?"

"Nothing. I've never met the guy before. His partner has to be the one with the grudge." Jane reached for Maura, who rolled into her arms. "Whoever this guy is who hates me, he's made it clear he's not afraid to hurt the ones I love to get at me. We have to be extremely careful until we catch him."

"We already are, and I think we're very close to finding him. We're doing everything we can to make sure Hannah is his last victim."

"She damn well better be." Jane stroked Maura's hair. "I just can't shake the feeling that he's already starting his endgame. What if he's planning for _you_ to be his next victim? It's going to be like that dream I keep having, where I can't save you because I'm too pregnant."

"You're going to protect all of us by solving the case, like you always do. You're already very close." Maura kissed her wife tenderly. "Now go to sleep. You need all the rest you can get right now. Neither of us will be sleeping once this baby comes out."

"Is it still worth it? Being with me?"

"Most definitely. You made my dreams come true. I don't like to think where I would be without you."

"I don't like to think about life without you either," Jane said sleepily, her face pressed against Maura's hair. Maura snuggled in closer, her hand resting on Eva, and drifted off to sleep with the security of Jane's arms around her.

However worried Jane might be, Maura felt perfectly safe.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Goodbye! Thank you for coming!" Jane breathed a sigh of relief as the last baby shower guest left their house. Angela and Constance were still there to help clean up, but the house was mostly quiet.

"That was lovely!" said Maura. "We had a good turnout and we got some lovely gifts for Eva."

"Yeah, a bunch of people who have less money than we have bought us stuff we don't really need because it's our second baby."

"Don't be silly. People enjoy giving gifts to new babies, and we'll treasure the things our loved ones picked out for her."

Charlotte came barreling out of the living room pushing her own present, a fancy doll pram that was identical to the baby pram Constance had given them at Charlotte's baby shower. Charlotte had been driving the thing around the house like it was a race car.

"Slow down, Charlotte," Maura implored her.

"I'm glad she likes the doll pram," said Constance fondly. "I thought she'd enjoy pushing a doll in her pram while you push baby Eva in hers."

"It was very thoughtful to give Charlotte a gift so she wouldn't feel left out," said Maura.

"It's a pleasure to see little Charlotte's face when she gets a new toy. You _do_ still have that baby pram I gave you?"

"Yes, it's in the garage," said Maura. "Charlotte hasn't used it in a while. She prefers the stroller she can sit up in now."

"Although she tried to ride in the doll buggy today," said Jane. "I caught her trying to climb on it, with T. J. saying he was going to push her. I stopped them just in time. Those two are dangerous together!"

"I had to deal with _three_ of you!" said Angela. "You three were always into something! And Jane was always the ringleader!" she added for the benefit of Maura and Constance.

"I wasn't as bad as she makes me sound," Jane promised them.

Maura laughed. "Charlotte loved her pram when she was a baby. We used to take her for a walk every night after dinner, when the weather was nice. She'd fall asleep on the walk and we would park the pram in the living room when we got home and have a little time to ourselves. I'm sure we'll use it a lot with Eva too."

"You loved yours as well," Constance remembered fondly. "You loved for me to push you through areas with a lot of trees. You adored trees. You would just stare and stare at the leaves waving around on the breeze. Sometimes I would just park you under a tree and paint or read, and you would be perfectly happy there by yourself, watching the trees and the sky."

"Aww, Maura," said Jane. "You liked to get lost in thought right from the beginning."

"I'll have to get busy making a quilt with all these fabric squares people decorated," said Angela, gathering up the squares.

"I'm looking forward to it. I love the one you made from Charlotte's shower," said Maura.

"Yeah, I think Charlotte likes it too," Jane agreed. She loved how the quilt showed everyone who had been to the shower, but she wasn't overly excited about having the square Diana decorated become a part of Eva's quilt. She didn't know a way around it, though. Diana had been strangely polite to Jane since their little talk on Charlotte's birthday. At the shower she had asked Jane about the pregnancy and due date as if that earlier conversation had never happened.

Charlotte came wheeling back into the room with the doll pram and crashed into the wall.

"Charlotte, sweetie, be careful," said Maura.

"She keeps crashing because she can barely see where she's going. That buggy's a little tall for her," Jane pointed out.

"She'll be able to enjoy it for years to come," said Constance. "A quality toy is not quickly outgrown."

"Maybe we should get her out of the house though," suggested Angela. "How about the grandmothers take Charlotte and her new toy to the park for a few hours and let the mommies get some rest?"

"That sounds lovely," said Maura, kneeling down on Charlotte's level. "Do you want to go with Granny and Grandma to the park? You can take your new baby doll." Constance had also given Charlotte a new rag doll to ride in the expensive toy pram.

Charlotte pulled the doll out of the pram. "It's baby Eva," she told Maura.

"Is she?" said Maura with a smile.

"I love baby Eva." Charlotte gave the doll a kiss and put her back in the pram.

"You're going to be such a good big sister!" Maura told her. She gave Charlotte a kiss before standing up. "Have fun at the park! Take good care of the baby!"

Grandmothers and grandchild went out the door, leaving Jane and Maura in an empty house.

"Do you want to nap?" Maura asked. "You look tired. We don't have to clean up now."

"Only if you come with me."

Maura smiled. "I'd love to."

Just the thought of curling up in bed and resting with Maura sounded heavenly to Jane, but she couldn't help thinking of other things they could do while everyone was gone. When they got to the bedroom, Jane closed the door (just in case) and pulled Maura close, kissing her. "Our wedding anniversary is this Thursday," she noted.

"Yes! Can you believe we'll have been married four years already?"

"It seems like more than that."

Maura frowned.

"I don't mean in a bad way. We've been friends for what, nine years? And I've felt a really strong connection to you that whole time, so it just seems like we've been married for longer than we have."

Maura gave her a dazzling smile. "You do have a point. I hope we live long enough to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary. I want to have a big party with our children and grandchildren."

"Maybe if people stop trying to kill us." Jane threaded her fingers through Maura's hair and planted kisses here and there on her face. "What do you have planned for our fourth anniversary?"

"Well." Maura kissed her seductively. "First I'm going to give you a present." She kissed her again. "Then I'm going to take you out to dinner." She kissed Jane's jawline. "Then I'm going to bring you home and make love to you." She kissed Jane's neck, and Jane felt herself getting wetter. "But there's no reason why I can't go ahead and make love to you now as well."

"No," Jane agreed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't."

Maura ran her fingers over Jane's curls, looking at her with lust in her eyes. While Jane had been feeling like an enormous blob most of the time lately, seeing Maura look at her like that made her feel sexy. She swallowed in anticipation as Maura's deft fingers moved down to the hem of her shirt and lifted it over her head.

"You are so beautiful," Maura breathed as she unfastened Jane's bra and slid it off. Jane's breasts felt painfully heavy as soon as they lost the support, but then Maura cupped them gently in her hands and ran her tongue over each extra-sensitive nipple. "They've gotten so big," she whispered.

"Is that what you like? Big boobs?"

Maura smiled enigmatically. "I like yours. I've always liked them, of course, but it's an incredible turn-on to see them grow as a result of you having my baby." She lightly sucked a nipple.

"Mmm. I _am_ having your baby." Jane reached behind Maura and unzipped her dress. "And how does that make you feel?"

"Virile."

Jane burst out laughing. "That is _not_ the response I was expecting."

"Well, I know I technically didn't, but when I look at you I can't help feeling like I impregnated you with my child, and if gives me a certain sense of pride. In a way, it's true."

"You totally impregnated me with your child, you manly man, you." She pulled Maura's dress down a bit and let it drop onto the floor.

Maura laughed. "It's not really about feeling _manly_ ; it's just sort of awakened some primal feeling deep inside of me."

Jane unhooked Maura's bra and pulled it off. "Well I'm glad you're not too manly to have these." She drew Maura closer and took a nipple in her mouth, sucking out a little bit of sweet milk. She wasn't producing much anymore since Charlotte was losing interest, but she had decided not to close up shop just yet because she wanted to be able to help out a little with nursing Eva in the beginning.

Maura nudged Jane to lie down on the bed and Jane obeyed. Maura slipped off her panties and climbed onto her side of the bed. Jane turned onto her right side to face her, enjoying the glorious sight of her wife's naked body. Maura went to work removing Jane's unsexy maternity pants and underwear, her face looking like she was opening a present. She lay down beside Jane and ran her fingers lightly over Jane's body, raising goosebumps. As her hand passed lovingly over Jane's stomach, they saw a bony knee or elbow poke out and slide across as Eva turned around in her cramped space.

"She's awake," Maura noted.

"She is now, but she always goes to sleep when you fuck me," Jane told her. "I think she thinks we're just rocking her to sleep."

Maura giggled. "Well, two birds with one stone then." She slid her hand between Jane's legs and began caressing the outer folds of her pussy. "I've sort of had this fantasy in my head for a while," she confessed.

"Oh really?" said Jane, running her hand along the curves of Maura's body.

"You told me years ago that you got into BCU, but you knew your parents couldn't afford it." Her fingers moved to Jane's inner folds and Jane shifted to move her legs apart more, giving Maura better access.

"Mm hm," Jane agreed, sliding her hand up the inside of Maura's thigh.

"Well, I have this fantasy where you got some kind of scholarship, so you did go to BCU. We would have started at the same time." She began lightly tapping Jane's clit with her middle finger.

"Mm. So you're imagining – mm – that we met back then." Her fingers reached Maura's wetness and began exploring as if they didn't know their way around, although of course they did.

"Yes. We were pursuing completely different career paths, of course, but there are some classes everyone has to take in the first year or two of college. In my fantasy we take a British literature class together." She began stroking Jane's clit, causing Jane's breathing to speed up.

"Mmmm. Why British literature?" She found Maura's clit and began stroking it the same way.

"Oh, yes, Jane… It was…it was one of the general classes I took my freshman year. _Jane_. The professor kept making us do projects with…with partners. Oh, that feels good. So I imagine you were my partner for a project." Her fingers moved to Jane's opening and traced it teasingly.

"I see. Maura, just do it, just…get in there." She slid her own fingers inside of Maura as if showing her what to do."

" _Oh_. I had a single dorm my freshman year, so I like to imagine I invited you there to work on the project." She finally entered Jane, who gasped in pleasure.

" _Fuuuck_ …so then when I got to your dorm…" She slid her fingers in and out of Maura, moving deeper each time.

"Oh _Jane_. We ended up talking about – _mmm, yes_ – other things besides the book and having a really good time."

"We didn't fuck?"

"Of course not. We'd only just met. We didn't even – oh Jane – fully understand our own sexuality yet."

"But it's a _fantasy_. Harder."

"It's a long fantasy." Maura increased her pressure inside of Jane. "I think we would have started hanging out though. You'd ask me to do stuff with you – _ohhh_ – and then I'd get you to start running with me, and we'd fall in love."

" _Maura_. So when do we get to fuck, in your fantasy?"

"Jane, keep doing that. One night you couldn't sleep so you called me, and I said you could come over. _Mmmmm_. So I let you sleep in my bed because _I'd be crazy not to_."

"And then we started doing this?" Jane moved her fingers faster, in and out, in and out.

"Oh, Jane…. _yes_ …yes, we did…oh, _Jane_." Maura arched her back as she crested, and seeing her come threw Jane over the edge as well. They lay panting for a minute, still inside each other, until Maura started rocking her hips again. Jane resumed fucking her, even harder than before, and Maura did the same until they both rode the crest back up to the top. Jane loved it when this happened. There was nothing better than feeling Maura's wet pussy clench around her fingers, except when it was accompanied by the feeling of Maura's skilled fingers inside of her, making her come again and again.

When they were finally spent, Maura put her fingers into her mouth and sucked Jane's juices off of them, looking thoughtful.

"I used to think this would be gross," said Jane, licking her own fingers.

"But it's not, is it?"

"Not at all. I like the way you taste."

Maura smiled. "They began performing legal same-sex weddings in Massachusetts on May 17, 2004. Ten years to the day before our real wedding. I like to think that in my fantasy world we would have gotten married on that day, so we'd still have the same anniversary but a decade earlier."

"So we'd be about to celebrate our fourteenth anniversary."

"Yes. And our kids would probably be older."

"Hmm." Jane pulled Maura closer and idly toyed with her hair. "I like that fantasy, because it means we'd have a lot more years together. But I like the way things worked out in real life, too. I don't think I'd want to be anywhere other than where I am this very second."

She could feel Maura's smile against her chest. "I wouldn't either," Maura said.

They heard the front door open downstairs. "Mommy!" called Charlotte's voice. "Mama!"

"We'll be down in a minute, baby!" Jane called back. "I guess we'd better get dressed," she told Maura.

Maura reluctantly extracted herself from Jane's arms and started picking up articles of clothing from the floor, handing Jane what was hers. "Do you think they'll be able to tell what we've been doing?" she asked.

"Well, Charlotte won't," said Jane, struggling to pull on her underwear.

"I meant our mothers." Maura fastened on her bra and reached for her dress.

"Oh, probably." Jane heaved herself out and bed and stepped into her maternity jeans. "But what did they think would happen when they gave two sexy women who are madly in love some 'alone time?'"

Maura giggled, holding her hair up so Jane could zip her dress. "Maybe they were _trying_ to give us some time for sex."

"That's a little disturbing to think about." Jane pulled on her shirt and checked herself in the mirror, smoothing down her rumpled hair.

"Well either way, I think they were being rather thoughtful." Maura ran a comb through her hair, washed her hands, and gave Jane one last kiss before they headed down to face the world again.

XXX

"Detective Rizzoli?"

Jane looked up from her desk to see one of her students standing in her office doorway. Today was her next to last day of teaching her spring courses. The next course she was signed up for didn't start until September, so if Eva allowed it, she would get a few weeks to just sit around the house feeling huge, followed by three months at home with her new baby. Maura would be home as well for the first two months. Jane was going to miss teaching, but she was looking forward to having a little time to rest. More than anything, she was looking forward to meeting little Eva soon.

"Hey Melaya," she said. "Come on in."

Melaya stepped into the office. "I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed having you as a teacher. I hope when I'm a cop that I'm just like you."

"Thank you, Melaya! I think you'll make a fine cop. You're one of the most promising recruits I've had."

"Really?"

"Yes. You're dedicated, you're thoughtful, and you really care about helping people. Whether you work here in Boston or somewhere else, people will be lucky to have you protecting them."

"That really means a lot coming from you! It's hard being a woman in this field. Every mistake you make is scrutinized."

Jane nodded sympathetically. "I know. Every cop has strengths and weaknesses, but when you're a female cop, you can't afford to have any weaknesses. If you do, people blame them on your gender."

"Yeah," Melaya agreed. "But I think you're a really good role model. You show everyone that a cop who's a woman can kick all kinds of ass, you know? Some of the guys weren't thrilled about having a female instructor in the beginning, but they came to really respect you."

"They'd better!"

Melaya laughed. "They do. And they're a little nicer to me and the other girls now because of it. You're changing attitudes."

"I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that."

"I'm going to miss you this summer. I hope everything goes well with the baby and all. Your daughters are lucky to have you for a mom. Anyway, I hope I see you in the fall."

When Melaya left, Jane found herself thinking more about what she said. She wasn't surprised to hear that some of the guys hadn't liked the idea of having a woman teach them police work. She'd encountered an FBI recruit during her guest lecture in Quantico who felt the same way. He had felt very strongly about it, which had troubled her, so she'd done a little digging into his past and found a history of misogynistic behavior. As a college student, he'd been editor-in-chief of his school newspaper and had worked to ruin the career of his most talented journalist simply because she was female and he felt threatened by her. Jane had tricked him into admitting, at least partially, to his treatment of her and had gotten him kicked out of the FBI Academy as a result. She still remembered his reaction when Agent Davies told him he was being expelled. He had been livid.

He had called her a stupid bitch.

That was when it finally hit her: the thing that had been scratching at her brain for months, the clue she was sure was staring her in the face. It wasn't anything _in_ the articles. It was the fact that there _were_ articles. The killer had to be someone with a background in journalism, someone who felt his own life and reputation had been destroyed by Jane's actions. And she knew someone who fell into that category.

She picked up the phone and dialed her wife. "Maura," she said. "Do you remember the name of that FBI recruit I sent you info on when I made that trip to Quantico? The one I got kicked out for his misogynistic tendencies?"

"Shaun Graham?" Maura replied.

"Yes! I think he's our killer!"

"Well he _would_ have a grudge against you."

"Exactly. He drove one girl to suicide just because she wrote better than him. Imagine how he felt when I completely destroyed his aspirations. He must have been planning a way to get back at me ever since then."

"It does make sense. He has a journalism background, so it would be natural for him to try to 'expose' you with articles. That was why they looked so professional in the beginning, although I feel they've gone downhill since then."

"He's unravelling. He's been staging these murders and writing these articles to terrorize me, but he hasn't seen any evidence yet that I'm falling apart. That must be killing him."

"You're a much stronger person than he is. He doesn't understand that."

"I'm gonna come to the station and get Frankie and Nina to help me look stuff up. We'll have to find out if he's in Boston now, and if he is, we can talk to him. Thanks for having such an awesome memory."

"My pleasure. Jane?"

"Yeah?"

"I knew you'd be the one to figure it out."

Jane smiled as she hung up the phone. Maybe she could still be a hero after all, at least in Maura's eyes.

She packed up her things and drove to the station, calling Frankie on the way to explain the idea she'd had. Frankie was in the lobby when she arrived.

"Jane, we found him," he told her. "He moved to Boston in January of last year."

"That's just two months before the first murder."

"Yeah. And he drives a red Chevy. That could be the car Harold's neighbor saw in his driveway. I'm on my way to his apartment now."

"Good luck," said Jane. "If you can't find him, we can always try to get some info out of Harold." Harold was currently in prison awaiting trial. The blood residue they'd found in Harold's house was a match to the most recent murder victim, and his DNA matched that found in the earlier rape victims. So far, however, he had completely refused to give up any information on his accomplice.

Jane went upstairs to see what else Nina had found.

"Well, I can't think of any reason Shaun would have come to Boston except to get revenge on you," Nina told her. "He's just been working odd jobs since he got here, most recently as a gas station attendant. Before this he lived with his parents after being kicked out of Quantico. They lawyered up and tried to appeal the decision, but they weren't successful."

Jane scrutinized Shaun's DMV photo on Nina's computer screen. She hadn't quite been able to picture his face since their brief meeting hadn't seemed that significant at the time, but it was coming back to her now. "I wonder what he told his family about why he was here."

"He probably made up some story about going to school here or something. It would explain why there were no murders last summer. I haven't figured out how he would have known Harold though. They aren't related, so I'm not sure how he found an old serial rapist in Boston to hang out with."

"Is there a chat room for depraved woman-haters?" Jane wondered.

"It wouldn't surprise me. We could nail Shaun in a hurry if we found out he had Harold's vanished computer."

"I bet he does. It _has_ to be him. It all makes sense now. This is why he was so good at not leaving behind any forensic evidence that would tie him to the crimes, because with his training, he knew exactly what we would look for. He must have hacked into the BPD database trying to find dirt on me, and he found a goldmine."

"I wouldn't call it _dirt_ ," said Nina kindly.

"I'm sure it looked like dirt to him. I've been mixed up in some crazy things. A lot of people have tried to kill me. I've been kidnapped several times. I've been wrongly accused of being mixed up in the mob, although he hasn't gotten to that yet. And people have hurt my wife, as often as not because they want to get at me, and the records show that I go completely batshit when she's in danger."

"You love her. But I'm sure that's over his head."

The phone rang. It was Frankie letting them know he and another cop were staking out Shaun's building. "He's not home, so we're just going to sit here until he arrives," he explained. "I put a BOLO on his car. I'll call as soon as I can when something happens."

"I hope this doesn't take too long," Jane groaned. "Maura and I have our anniversary to celebrate. It'd be nice to have this out of the way before tonight so I'm not checking my phone in the restaurant."

" _Don't_ check your phone in the restaurant. We'll take care of this, okay?"

"I know, but this has been hanging over our heads for a year. We're both anxious to get it resolved." Jane flashed Nina a smile. "You wanna see what I'm giving her for an anniversary present?"

Nina grinned back. "Sure."

Jane pulled up a picture on her phone of the matching necklace, earrings, and bracelet she'd purchased for her wife. They had little flowers made of pearl with diamonds in the middle.

"Oh my gosh, these are beautiful!" exclaimed Nina. "She is a lucky woman!"

"I kind of went all out," admitted Jane. "I couldn't even afford this shit if I wasn't married to her, but I am and she deserves it. She's gonna look so gorgeous when we go out to eat tonight."

"I bet she is," agreed Nina.

"So how is the pregnancy going?" Jane asked her.

"It's going well! I'm having some morning sickness, but it's not too bad. The doctor says the baby is growing like it should. I'm excited about finding out if it's a boy or a girl. We've been talking about names for each."

Jane grinned. "What names?"

"Well, Frank is out of the question. Frankie hasn't talked to his dad since the wedding, and he hates getting called by bill collectors who are looking for Frank Senior. He said he'd do Francesca for a girl though. I think he was kidding, but I actually like it, so I think that's really what we'll do."

"I like Francesca, but if he names his daughter that, he needs to admit his real name is Francesco and quit pretending it's Francis."

Nina laughed. "You wanna hear the name we picked for a boy?" she asked shyly.

"Of course!"

"Frankie said if it's a boy, he wants to call him Barry."

Jane's heart stopped for just a second. "After Frost."

Nina nodded. "He and Frankie were really close. Frankie said he still thinks about him every day. I never got to meet him, but I kind of feel like I owe him a lot. If he hadn't died, I would never have come here, and I wouldn't have met Frankie. This baby wouldn't exist. But, I know how much Frost meant to all of you, so I think I would love to name my son after him."

Jane reached out and squeezed Nina's hand. "Vacancies come open all the time. I like to think you would have made it here even if Frost had lived."

"Really? I've felt kind of bad about it."

"I absolutely think so. I'm never going to be glad Frost is gone, but I don't want to live in a world where you're not my sister-in-law."

"Aw, Jane. That's really sweet."

"Hey, we love having you in the family. And Frankie needs someone. I don't think Frost was going to marry him."

Nina laughed. "They'd be an interesting couple. Frost and Frankie. What would their couple name be? Frostie?"

"Couple name?"

"Yeah, every power couple has to have a couple name. Like Brad and Angelina were Brangelina. When Korsak found out Frankie and I were dating, he said we had to have a couple name. He settled on Rizziday."

"That's not fair. Me and Maura have been a couple for longer and we don't have a couple name."

"Yes you do."

"We do?"

"Yes! People around the office call you Rizzles."

"Rizzles? What the hell kind of fucked up shit is that?"

Nina was laughing really hard now. "I think it's cute. Frankie says people started calling you that before you started dating because you two were always together. There's actually quite a lot of confusion around here as to when you started dating."

"I know. But _Rizzles_? Seriously? Does Maura know about this?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask her." Nina picked up her phone. "I just got a text from Frankie. He says nothing's happening."

"This is gonna take all afternoon. I'm gonna go down and see what my beautiful bride is up to."

Jane waddled onto the elevator, rode down to the basement, and waddled to Maura's office. It was empty, so she continued into the autopsy room, which also looked empty at first glance. "Maura?" she called.

"Jane." Her wife's voice was very soft. Jane turned towards the sound and her heart leapt into her throat. Shaun Graham was standing in the corner watching her, holding Maura tight against him. He had one of her bone saws in his hand, held up to her throat. She looked at Jane apologetically, shaking visibly, tears streaming down her face.

"Hello Rizzoli," said Shaun. "Just so you know, if you yell or anything, I'm cutting her throat open."

"Shaun, let her go," she said sharply. "She has nothing to do with this. I'm the one you have a beef with. Let Maura go."

"Yeah, you're really smart, Rizzoli," Shaun sneered. "You are the one I have a beef with. Which is exactly why I'm not going to let her go."

Jane took a few deep breaths. She had to keep her head, had to keep him talking long enough for someone else to walk in, or for him to get off his guard just long enough for her to make a move. She had to think what would hold his interest so she could keep him from hurting Maura.

"How did you get in here?" she asked.

"I have my ways. I tried to go home and saw two unmarked police cars sitting on my block," he said. "You really think I'm stupid enough not to know a cop car when I see one? So I didn't go home. I came here to find your gorgeous bride. Today's a special day for you two, isn't it?"

Jane looked at Maura again. All she wanted was to see her wear her new jewelry set, to take her out and show her off and then bring her back home and make sweet love with her. She had to get them out of this.

"You were pretty smart to kill six people before we figured out who you were," she said, inching her way towards Maura's tool tray.

"A lot of people hate you, don't they, Rizzoli?" he retorted. "It couldn't have been easy to narrow it down."

"So how did you meet Harold?" she asked him. "Internet, I'm guessing? Some sort of special chat room for retired and aspiring rapists?"

He laughed mirthlessly. "You can meet any kind of person you want to on the internet. It was the only way Harold could get his thrills anymore. So we came up with a mutually beneficial arrangement. He missed hunting women. I needed revenge. So I came to Boston and made up my plan. I would tell him what kind of girl I needed and he would lure one in by asking for help with something. No one ever thought a fragile old man would harm anyone. They felt sorry for him, so they came to the house to help him. All he had to do was get them in and I did the rest while he watched. I even tied their bodies to trees like he used to do and sent him pictures. He had a whole gallery on his computer."

"Which I assume is in your apartment." Jane stopped when she felt the tool tray behind her.

"Yeah, I took it away when he told me you guys were starting to ask him weird questions. I don't care if your brother finds it now. I know I'm going to die here. I just want to finish fucking up your life first." He held the saw closer to Maura's throat. Maura squeezed her eyes shut.

"No," snapped Jane. "Why would you hurt Maura? She never did anything to you."

"No, but you did. You ruined everything. I had a promising career ahead of me, my dream job, and you blew it. Now I can't get any kind of decent job. Do you realize what it's like for someone with my IQ to have to work at a damn gas station? What the hell did it matter to you what happened to Penny Williams? You just have to fuck things up for men because that's what bitches like you do. You are what's wrong with the world today. Women like you think you don't need men, that you can do anything men can do."

"You're right," said Jane, trying to feel around on the tray behind her without him noticing. "I wanted you out of the FBI because I could tell you were the brightest recruit they had, and it bothered me that I could never be as good as you." Her fingers closed around a scalpel. "I'm the one you want to hurt. Not Maura."

"Jane, no!" pleaded Maura. "The baby!"

"I will admit, I wasn't expecting you to be knocked up when I found you," said Shaun. "What is that, one of those synthetic test tube babies?"

"Synthetic?" said Jane. "Why would you say the baby is synthetic?"

"It's unnatural to make them like that. If you want a real baby, you have to make them the old-fashioned way, with a man inside of you." He pressed himself closer to Maura, who struggled against him. It was killing Jane to see a rapist and murderer put his filthy hands on her wife, but she had to stay calm. She took a cautious step towards Shaun with the scalpel held behind her back.

"Us man-hating lesbians don't do it like that," she said. "You were wrong, you know. Maura and I didn't have sex with any of the men you accused us of sleeping with."

"I know. It must have really torn you up though, when Jared Nielson raped your woman. She's supposed to be all yours, and then he got his hands on her and you couldn't even stop him. I'm surprised you even wanted her after that."

"It _did_ tear me up," Jane admitted, taking another step. "But not for the reasons you think. I know it's impossible for you to understand, Shaun, but I actually love my wife. I would do anything for her. You're the one who should be scared in this situation."

"Bullshit," he said. "I bet it would kill you if something like that happened to her again." Maura made another attempt to break away, but he held her firmly with the saw at her throat.

Jane took another step forward. "I bet you've never had a woman go to bed with you willingly. There's probably not a woman on this planet who would. Even a hooker would turn you down. They can find better clients. Is it just because you're a jerk, or is your dick that small?"

"You stupid bitch, do you want me to kill her right now?" he hissed.

She took another step. There were only a few feet between them now. "That's what this is really about, isn't it? No woman will ever love you the way Maura loves me. It must really bother you to see a woman get what you never could. I bet even your mother couldn't love you."

Maura must have felt him loosening his grip at this remark, because she tried again to get away and almost succeeded. He pulled her back so hard her head snapped back and hissed in her ear, "Bitch, hold still or I will cut you open!"

That momentary distraction gave Jane just enough time to close the gap between them and drive the scalpel into his jugular. "No one calls my wife a bitch," she informed him.

He fell to his knees, clutching at his neck. Maura, now free, grabbed Jane and pulled her to the door and into the crime lab, where she grabbed a phone to call for help. Soon there was a flood of police officers, horrified at the apparent security breach. Jane wrapped her arms tightly around Maura and kissed her head over and over. "It's over, baby," she promised her. "He can't hurt you now."

Maura nodded. "I don't know how he got in. He came up behind me and put the bone saw to my throat. He asked if you were in the building and I admitted you might be, so he said we had to wait quietly for you to come down, that if I made a sound he would cut me. So I waited."

"Did he hurt you at all?"

"No. He was going to, but he wanted to wait until you got there."

"How long did you wait?"

"I don't know. It felt like forever, but it probably wasn't that long."

"I'm so sorry, baby." Jane stroked Maura's hair and rubbed her back.

"It's okay," said Maura. "You got him. You protected me, even though you're almost nine months pregnant."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"I was so scared you or the baby would get hurt. But you didn't. You took him down without anyone else getting hurt. And now there won't be any more murders or articles. His accomplice is in jail and he's probably bleeding out." She looked up at Jane, her shaking starting to subside. "It's been over a year, but it's finally over."

"Yeah." Jane looked down at her wife and smiled. "Happy anniversary, sweetie."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Well, you've officially been pregnant two weeks longer than I was," Maura said cheerfully. "But I don't think you will be much longer."

It was the morning of June 6, 2018: Eva's due date and the first day of Maura's scheduled maternity leave. Three weeks had passed since Shaun Graham bled out on Maura's autopsy room floor and the case they had been agonizing over for more than a year had finally been closed. The bruises on Maura's arm from where he had grabbed her had faded away now, and while the incident still haunted her dreams, she was ready to focus on more important things like the impending birth of her second child. They hadn't expected Eva to actually show up on her due date, but it was starting to look like it might be either today or tomorrow. Jane had mentioned last night that her "practice" contractions were getting a little stronger, but they were still erratic and she was able to sleep. At 5:02 a.m., however, she'd had a contraction strong enough to wake her up. It had lasted around 15 seconds and she had no trouble talking through it, had even gone back to sleep afterwards. But another, equally intense contractions had happened at 5:58. The next one came at 6:51.

"She can't really come today, can she?" Jane asked around seven, when they were getting dressed. "It's her due date. Babies never really come on their due dates."

"Only around five percent are born on their due dates," Maura agreed. "But someone has to be in that five percent. Of course, if this _is_ early labor, it could take all day and she could arrive sometime after midnight, making her birthday June seventh. We might not even be at the hospital until after dinner."

"Mommy! Mama!" Charlotte came wandering into the room with serious bedhead, carrying a book. They had recently swapped her crib for a daybed since she had gotten a little too good at climbing out of the crib.

"Hi sweetie! Did you sleep well?" Maura sked, bending down to kiss her daughter on the cheek.

"Uh huh," said Charlotte. "There was a pony in my bed."

"In your dream?" said Maura, smiling in amusement.

"A yellow pony," said Charlotte. "Is Gamma here?"

"She's here," Jane promised. Angela had been staying at their house all the time for the past two weeks, eager to be the first to know when Jane went into labor. She was in charge of watching Charlotte while they were at the hospital.

"Let's go get you dressed so we can find Grandma and have breakfast," said Maura.

Once she had made the little girl presentable, the three of them went downstairs for breakfast and found Angela already in the kitchen making waffles.

"How are you four girls doing this morning?" asked Angela. "Is my new granddaughter thinking about coming out yet?"

"Everyone is asking me that," said Jane. "I've been getting text messages and Facebook messages for days. People act like I'm holding out on them because I haven't presented them with a baby yet."

"I'm getting a lot of text messages too," said Maura. "But I think Jane might be in early labor! She's having stronger contractions this morning, and they're getting closer together."

"They're not that close together," said Jane. "And they're not that strong. One woke me up, but I had to pee, so I think I was close to waking up anyway."

"Oh, Janie!" Angela's eyes became misty. "I bet she'll come today! Oh, I wish I could be there with you while she's born!"

"There is not a chance of that happening," Jane assured her.

"I'll take good care of her," Maura promised. "Anyway, someone needs to watch Charlotte."

"I can't wait to get Eva out of here," said Jane, patting her belly as she sat down to eat her waffle. "I feel miserable. In addition to my back killing me, ever since she dropped my entire life has revolved around peeing. Sometimes I don't even make it in time."

"You'll miss it though," Maura told her wistfully. "I still miss it. And you'd have an easier time making it to the toilet if you'd done the Kegel exercises I taught you."

"I can't wait to see that little baby!" said Angela, cutting up Charlotte's waffle. "She's going to be so precious."

"Me either," Maura admitted with a smile. "I can't wait to hold her. Jane's been holding her for nine months now. I want a turn!"

"Of all the days she could have been born, today is the last day I expected," said Jane. "Babies never come when they're _supposed_ to."

"Well she has Maura's DNA," chuckled Angela. "Maura is very punctual."

"Yeah, but she can be a little rule-breaker when she wants to be," said Jane.

Maura smiled slyly. "I had hoped to get a chance to pick up groceries before the baby got here, so Charlotte would have enough to eat while we're at the hospital."

"Don't worry about that. I can go," said Angela.

"We can go," said Jane. "We've got time. She's not coming out right now. Maybe walking around the store will speed things up"

"Are you sure you feel up to it?" Maura asked her. "Maybe it would be better if you just rested. You'll need your energy later."

"I'm fine. It's better than just sitting around here waiting for something to happen."

"Okay," said Maura reluctantly. "I'll bring your hospital bag, just in case."

"I'll keep Charlotte so you don't have her with you if you have to go straight to the hospital," Angela volunteered.

As soon as they were finished with breakfast, Maura and Jane loaded their bag – packed with everything they both needed to be comfortable at the hospital, as well as an adorable outfit to bring Eva home in – into the Mercedes and drove to the food co-op. They were almost there when Jane announced she was having another contraction.

"Time it!" Maura commanded.

"Sixteen seconds," Jane said when it was over. "Still not bad."

"That was only 49 minutes after the last one," said Maura. "You're progressing."

Maura watched Jane carefully as they shopped, but she didn't have any contractions in the store. They were close to check out when a call came in from Diana. Maura answered, assuming she just wanted to check on the baby's progress.

"Happy due date!" said Diana. "How is Jane? Is there a baby yet?"

"Not yet, but we think it might be today. She's having some stronger contractions, but they're still relatively mild and inconsistent. I may not be able to talk again for a while, though. I have to focus on Jane when we go to the hospital, and then there'll be the new baby. But we'll get word out somehow."

"I completely understand. So I'm guessing you wouldn't be able to help me today?"

"Help you with what?"

"Someone broke into my house last night."

"Oh, no! Did they take anything?"

"They took some of Gary's files that he had locked up in the safe room. I can't figure out why, but it had to be someone who knew us, right? How would a stranger know how to get into the safe room?"

"That's a good point. And don't you have an alarm system?"

"Yes, they disabled it somehow! Gary and I didn't even know until we woke up and found the door open to the safe room and everything out of place."

"Did you call the local police?"

"Yeah, of course. They came out and took a statement and everything. But they didn't sound too promising when they said they'd look into it."

"I'm sure they'll take it very seriously. I don't really know what _I_ could do to help."

"I was hoping Jane could try to look for a motive or something, since she's a detective. You always said she was the best." Diana sounded increasingly distraught.

"This isn't really her field. She was a homicide detective."

"But she's looked at similar stuff while investigating homicides, right? Maybe she would find a clue the local police missed."

"I don't think they would like her interfering in their investigation."

"I'm not asking her to disturb anything. I'm just asking, as a friend, if she can just look at what happened and tell me if she has any theories. Just really quick. I just…I need someone to talk to about this. I'm really scared. She's the only friend I have in law enforcement, I mean I know she's not officially a cop anymore, but she still knows how all this works…"

"Normally I'd be happy to come out and help, but we could be heading to the hospital sometime today."

"I get that, I do, I'm just freaked out. Nothing like this has ever happened before, and I'm afraid Gary might be mixed up in something he shouldn't be, I mean I kept asking him what was in there that would be worth stealing and he wouldn't tell me, he just went to work and left me here alone, and I don't know if they're coming back or what's going to happen. The alarm system's down. I don't even feel safe."

Maura looked at Jane uncertainly. Jane shook her head.

"I'm so sorry this is happening, Diana," Maura said. "It just couldn't be happening at a worse time. Jane could end up in active labor within the next few hours. We don't really want to go that far from the hospital."

"Could you just let me talk to Jane about it?"

Maura handed the phone off to Jane, who tried unsuccessfully not to take it. "Yeah," she said into the phone when she finally gave up the fight. "Oh, that's too bad…Okay, but I don't really think there's anything we can do…yes, I suppose we could do that, but…okay, okay, don't cry, it'll be all right…yeah, okay, I guess we can come out, but only for a little bit. We've got a lot going on right now." She hung up the phone and looked at Maura with a sigh. "I guess we're going to Wellesley."

"Are you sure? It's not very close to the hospital."

"I'm not gonna need to go anytime soon. It sounds like her husband might be doing something shady, and I kinda want to know what it is. He's been bugging me all along. I mean, it's weird that he's never home. Maybe he just doesn't like his wife, or maybe he's doing something he doesn't want his wife to know about. Let's just go, see what we can find out, maybe tell her something that'll make her feel better, and go back home."

"I _do_ want to help her," Maura admitted. "But we can't be long. Let's check out and get over there as fast as we can."

About five minutes after they left, Jane had another contraction. "The last one was 45 minutes ago," Maura said, looking from her watch to Jane's face. When Jane's face relaxed, Maura looked at her watch again. "That one lasted about twenty seconds. How bad was it?"

"Not too bad."

"They're still getting closer together. I can turn the car around if you're nervous."

"I'm still a long way from having them every five minutes. When _you_ were in early labor, you still insisted on going to work."

"We only had a short drive from BPD to our hospital."

"Well, if we make it snappy at Diana's, we should be able to get home in two hours or less. I might even have time to catch some of that _Law & Order_ marathon."

"What _Law & Order _marathon?"

Jane shrugged. "There's always one on somewhere."

Maura laughed. "Regular or _SVU_?"

"Regular, unless _Criminal Intent_ is on. I love the rich people murders." Jane was quiet for a minute. "You know what I regret about killing Shaun?"

"You regret killing him?"

"Hell no, he had a saw at your throat. But I regret not asking him if he wrote those notes to you."

"Do you think he did?"

"I don't know what to think. You haven't gotten any new ones. I'm not sure why he would write you little notes in addition to everything else, but I'm not sure why anyone else would, either. It just would have been nice to know for sure if it was him or if we still need to worry about it."

"I got the last one almost four months ago," Maura noted. "Perhaps even if it wasn't him, the note-writer has moved on."

"We can only hope."

There were no more contractions on the drive to Wellesley. Maura pulled into Diana's driveway sincerely hoping Jane's water wouldn't break while they were here. Diana answered the door and quickly ushered them into the house.

"Where's Jeeves?" Jane asked.

"Jeeves?" said Diana distractedly.

"Or whatever your butler's name is."

"Oh, he…it's his day off."

Jane gave Maura a look that clearly said "I told you she doesn't know his name." Maura shook her head in exasperation.

"We really can't stay long," Maura said. "I need to get Jane back home so she can rest a bit before she goes into active labor."

"I understand. I'll just show you what happened. The safe room is in the library, as you know. You can look around if you want. I need to grab something from the other room." She left them in the library, where the safe room door was still open. Jane went in to look around, taking care not to disturb anything. Maura noticed Diana's copy of her book sitting out on an end table. She opened the cover to the title page, which she had signed for Diana when the book first came out, and read the note she had written:

 _To Susan – I hope you enjoy it! Maura Isles-Rizzoli._

"Diana," said Maura, hearing her friend's footsteps returning. "Why is your sister-in-law's copy of my book here?"

"Oh, I haven't had a chance to give it to her yet," Diana called back.

"But you told me she loved it."

"I mean, I haven't had a chance to give it back to her. She brought it with her last time she was here."

Maura frowned. Jane stepped back out of the safe room. "It looks the same as the last time we saw it," she whispered to Maura. "I can't find anything that looks like it's been disturbed."

"Something's wrong," Maura whispered back. "I think we should leave."

"No. You're not going anywhere."

Maura whirled around to see Diana pointing a gun at them. Maura instantly felt the blood drain from her face and, without even thinking about it, stepped in front of Jane. "Diana, what are you doing?"

"Get in the safe room. Both of you."

"Why?" asked Jane, sounding as dumbfounded as Maura felt.

"Just do it! Both of you! Get in the safe room, or someone gets hurt!"

"Okay!" said Jane, holding up her hands. "No one needs to get hurt. We'll do what you say." She turned and began walking slowly into the safe room, looking back at Maura.

Maura couldn't stop staring at Diana, who refused to meet her eyes. "I don't understand," she said.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart. Get. In. The safe room. _Now_. I don't wanna have to shoot you."

"Come on, Maura," said Jane gently. "I don't know what's going on either, but I don't want you getting hurt. Just do what she says."

Maura turned and followed Jane into the safe room. She knew Jane was probably already formulating a plan to get them out of this, and she knew it would probably work. Jane always find her way out of bad situations. But Maura was completely bewildered as to why her own friend had turned on her.

Once Jane and Maura were in the safe room, Diana followed them in and closed the door, keeping her back to it and her gun trained on the two women. Maura made a point of keeping herself between Jane and Diana.

"Are you gonna tell us what this is about?" asked Jane before drawing in her breath. Maura realized she was having another contraction. She glanced at her watch. 8:57. The last one had been at 8:25.

Diana looked shaky, uncertain. Maura remembered Jane telling her once that nervous criminals could sometimes be the most dangerous, the least predictable.

"You're having the baby," said Diana hoarsely. "You're going to have her here. Then I'm going to take her."

"Why?" whispered Maura, fighting back tears. She didn't want to give Diana the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

"Because it's the only way I'm ever going to have one! It's not fair. You two already have a perfect daughter. Why do you get two, and I don't even get one? Do you know how long I tried for a baby? I could never make it to the end of the third trimester. Every time, I lost it, and the doctors couldn't explain why. I did everything right. Gary hated me more every time." A tear trickled down Diana's face. "He only married me in the first place because I was pregnant. His whole family hated me. They said I was trash. They wanted me to abort it, but Gary married me instead. Then I lost the baby on our honeymoon. You told me all about your beautiful honeymoon on a Greek island, all that time you spent in the sunshine drinking wine and touring ancient landmarks. I spent my honeymoon having a miscarriage, in Rome. Everyone said Gary married me for nothing so I kept trying to have a baby. I didn't even want one that much at the time, but I felt like I had to have one to keep Gary with me. Then I met you with your perfect life and this perfect marriage, and it's not fair! You get everything you want, Maura!"

"You think taking our baby will make Gary happy?" Maura asked in disbelief.

"Oh, it's too late for Gary," said Diana. "He left me last year when he found out his young, rich girlfriend was pregnant. They have a baby boy now. I've been in this house by myself while he tries to work out a divorce deal that doesn't give me too much, even though he's the one who cheated. We haven't had a real marriage in years, of course, but I've been refusing to sign anything. It's not fair. I don't have a college degree. I haven't worked since I married him. How am I supposed to support myself? He finally agreed to give me a lump sum so I can start over somewhere because he feels sorry for me. That's why you wanted to be my friend, wasn't it, Maura? You felt sorry for me."

"No, I actually wanted to be your friend. I thought you wanted to be _my_ friend." Maura's tears started to spill over. "Why _did_ you pretend to be my friend? I wasn't even having a baby when we met."

"Oh, in the beginning I really was interested in friendship. I kind of wanted to _be_ you, you know? You were the woman who had it all. I wanted to see what that was like." Diana shrugged. "You turned out to be a lot sweeter than I expected. I think I'm actually going to miss you. But I know I'm going to have a brilliant, beautiful little girl because she came from you."

"What the hell makes you think you can possibly get away with stealing our baby?" demanded Jane. "Do you intend to kill us?"

"Not if I can avoid it. I'm planning to barricade the two of you in here once she's born. I'm sure eventually you'll be found, but by then me and my sweet baby girl will be out of the country."

"But you can't!" Maura cried, feeling as though her heart was breaking. "We won't let you take her! She's _ours!_ "

"Maura, honey, I'm not giving you a choice. You two can always have another one. You're younger than I am, you're in love, you have money. You can live without her."

"We can't!" Maura's whole body shook with sobs. She couldn't believe this was happening. "We love her! She's our little Eva! And we worked so hard to have her. Jane went through several IVF cycles, and the first time she got pregnant she had a miscarriage."

Diana looked from Jane to Maura. "You never told me that."

"We barely knew you when it happened," said Jane, gently rubbing Maura's back. "It was too painful to talk about much for some time after that, and Maura always felt like you wanted to keep things light. But our lives are not perfect. We've had a lot go wrong for us too. We just made the decision that, for each other, we were going to be the thing that went right."

Maura didn't think it was possible, but she only started crying harder at those words. She was supposed to be the thing that went right for Jane, but instead she had made everything go wrong.

"Hey, it's okay," Jane whispered to her. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise." She looked at Diana. "Okay, you're the one in charge. Just tell me what's going to happen."

"As I said, you're going to have the baby here."

"But it's hard for women to give birth in a stressful environment," Maura told her. "A rush of adrenaline can completely halt labor, or slow it down so much that the baby could go into distress. Diana, Eva could die."

"If it slows down too much, I'll bring you a knife and you can do a C-section."

"No!" Maura cried. "It's not safe! Jane could die!" She looked back at her wife, wondering how she could have failed her so completely. "I won't cut her open."

"Then Jane had better find a way to relax and keep things moving."

"I can do that," said Jane. "I was a cop for years. Sometimes I'm calmer under pressure than I am when everything's quiet. So after she's born, you're taking her out of the country? How? They won't get let you on a plane with a newborn baby."

"I have it all worked out. For the right price, you can get forged copies of any kind of document. I already have a birth certificate and adoption papers for my little Olivia Grace. She was born premature six weeks ago. A friend of ours with a private jet will help us get out of the country, although they think I'm legally adopting her and moving to – well, I won't tell you where, but they think it's all part of my plan to start over after Gary. And it is."

"I don't think it's going to work," Maura started to say, but Jane put a warning hand on her shoulder.

"I just have one question," Jane said. "Why did you write those notes to Maura?"

Maura looked at Diana. "That was you?"

Diana shrugged. "I guess it was immature. It just bothered me that you were trying to project this image of a perfect woman with an amazing life and marriage and family and career. Nobody's life is that perfect. There must be something you're hiding."

"I trusted you," Maura said softly. "I thought you were my friend. And all this time, _you_ were the one terrorizing us?"

Jane's phone started to ring. "That's probably my mom," said Jane. "We've been gone too long for a quick grocery stop."

"Don't answer it," said Diana immediately.

"You're the boss," said Jane. "But she'll freak out and call the police if she thinks something's wrong." The phone stopped ringing, then started again with a different sound. "She's trying a FaceTime call now. Charlotte probably wants to talk to us."

"Answer it and tell her you're going to the hospital and you can't talk. Tell her everything's fine, or I swear I'll put a bullet in your wife."

"I think Maura should talk to her," said Jane. "I'm a terrible liar."

Maura frowned in confusion, and then she understood. Her panic subsided just a little as she realized Jane did have a plan, at least a small one. She wiped her tears away and composed herself as Jane's phone stopped ringing and Maura's started. Angela probably thought Jane wasn't answering because she had gone into active labor, and while a normal person might stop calling under those circumstances, that wasn't really Angela's style. Maura picked up her phone and answered. Angela and Charlotte's faces appeared on her screen, Charlotte sitting on her grandmother's lap in the kitchen.

"Hi Mommy!" said Charlotte.

"Hi sweetie," said Maura, forcing a smile.

"Maura! Is everything okay? Jane's not answering her phone."

"Everything's fine," Maura promised. "Jane's labor is progressing, so we're about to go to the hospital. I probably won't be able to call you back for a while. But you're okay with Charlotte, right?"

"Yeah, of course! Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, we have everything. There's nothing to worry about."

"Mommy's face," said Charlotte, pointing. Angela took a closer look and quickly put Charlotte down from her lap.

"Maura, are you sure you're okay? Where are you?"

"Everything's fine. There's no danger. We're on our way to the hospital. Jane is doing great, and I'm going to make sure everything goes according to plan."

"Okay," said Angela carefully. "Is it okay if I tell Frankie she's in labor? He'll be excited."

"Yes, of course. Nina will be thrilled as well. I already gave the doctor a note telling her how we want the labor to go, so everything's looking good on our end. I'll call you as soon as I have news."

"Okay Maura. You take care of my daughter and granddaughter. And yourself."

"I will," Maura promised before hanging up.

"What's wrong with your face?" Diana asked.

"We went to the grocery store before we came here," Jane said quickly. "There was a big bin of peanuts in the aisle and Maura walked right into it because I distracted her. She's allergic."

Diana frowned. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Maura nodded, hoping Diana didn't know much about peanut allergies.

"Just get her some Benedryl and she'll be fine," Jane assured her.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do. Give me your phones," said Diana. "I'm gonna turn them off so no one can track you. Also, give me your car keys. I'm putting your car in the garage. You two try to relax if you don't want to do the C-section."

She left the safe room and closed the door behind her. They could hear the sound of something sliding across the floor on the other side. Maura tried to push the door open, but it wouldn't budge. She turned around to see Jane breathing her way through another contraction.

"Oh, Jane," said Maura softly.

"I'm okay."

"This is all my fault," Maura said, the tears coming again.

"Maura, no. None of this is your fault."

"But it is! I was the one who brought Diana into our lives. I should have known something was wrong. I should have known!"

"Sweetie, you couldn't have known. I certainly didn't imagine she was after our baby."

"But you had suspicions about her."

"Yeah, but I have suspicions about everyone. I'm a detective. And you were worried about coming out here, but I talked you into it, so whose fault is it really?"

Maura shook her head. "It's not yours. She was _my_ friend."

"Come here." Jane held her arms out and Maura walked into them. "It's going to be okay. There is no way in hell that woman is taking our baby."

"What if we can't stop her?"

"There are two of us and only one of her, and there will be help coming. That was brilliant, by the way. You communicated very well without making Diana suspicious. And Ma is getting to be such a good police mom. She was probably dying to ask you what was wrong, but she knew you couldn't tell her."

"What if they can't find us?"

"Nina will be able to find out which tower our cell signals last bounced off of. That'll bring them to Wellesley. Hopefully someone will remember us mentioning that Diana lives in Wellesley, so they can look her up. The question will be whether they can get into the house, or if they can find us in here if they do search. Worst case scenario, we might not get out of here in time to get to the hospital, but she's not taking Eva. We won't let her."

"But then you would still have to give birth here."

"Well, it's a good thing I have a doctor with me, isn't it?"

"I'm not that kind of doctor. You need Dr. Kessler, and the maternity ward, and the birth plan we wrote together. None of this is right!"

"I absolutely trust you to get me, and the baby, through this safely."

"Even though I got us into this mess?"

"Honey, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I suspected she was the one writing the notes and I didn't say anything to you. I didn't want to upset you, so I just hoped I was wrong. I had Frankie look into her background, but he found nothing incriminating. If us detectives couldn't find anything, there's no way _you_ could have known she was psycho."

"Maybe I should go back to being antisocial."

"Don't be silly. We all get tricked sometimes. Think about me and Casey, I mean I had no idea he was a douche. I thought if I was going to marry a guy, it would probably be him."

Maura smiled slightly.

"I know you feel bad, but there's no time for that. This baby is coming today."

"You're sure?"

"Pretty sure."

Maura stepped back and saw that Jane's pants had become wet. Her water had broken. Maura took a deep breath and went into action.

She pulled down one of the bunks that folded into the wall so Jane could lie down and told her to undress from the waist down. She took off her wedding rings and put them in her purse, then went into the tiny bathroom and scrubbed her hands and arms.

"I need to see how dilated you are," Maura told Jane when she came back out.

"How naughty," said Jane, pulling the blanket back to give Maura access. She reached her fingers inside Jane, feeling her cervix. "Normally when you do this, it's hot," said Jane.

"Not today, I'm afraid," said Maura grimly. "About two centimeters."

"So what does that mean?"

"Eight centimeters to go."

They heard whatever piece of furniture Diana had blocked the door with sliding away, and Jane quickly covered herself up before the door opened.

"I brought your Benedryl," said Diana, still holding her gun. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Yes," said Maura. "There's a suitcase in the trunk of my car with things I packed for the hospital. We need that. I also need my medical bag, some clean towels, sheets, and pillows, string, a large bowl, and a bucket. Also, ice water for Jane."

"That's a complicated list. What the hell do you need a string for?"

"To tie the cord off before I cut it."

"But I can't let you have scissors when I'm not here. You might ambush me with them next time I come into the room."

That hadn't occurred to Maura, but it wasn't a bad idea. "Then you'll have to bring them when it's time to cut the cord. But there are other supplies in my medical bag I can use."

"Fine, I'll get it, but I'm removing anything sharp." She went back out and blocked the door again. Maura turned to Jane, who reached for her hand.

"Hey, I know this sucks," said Jane. "I'm not thrilled at the prospect of giving birth while locked up in a crazy lady's house. But you and I have gotten ourselves through far worse situations than this. We're going to get through this one too."

"I don't think anything could be worse than this."

"Yes it can. We're safe right now. Diana doesn't want to hurt Eva. She can't hurt me because I'm giving birth to Eva. She can't hurt you because she needs you to deliver Eva. And her stupid little gun doesn't scare me. She's not taking our baby. That bitch will not lay a single finger on Eva."

"How are you so calm?"

"Because you're not. That's how this works." She reached up and moved a strand of hair behind Maura's ear. "I'm gonna need you to work on that, though, because we might need to switch places a little later."

Maura nodded. It would be unreasonable to expect Jane to stay this calm when she had strong contractions coming every few minutes. "I just really hope help gets here in time so we can get you to the hospital where you belong."

"I hope so too, honey. But I think I'm in good hands with you."

Maura sat on the edge of the narrow bed and held Jane's hand tightly in both of hers, watching the door for signs that Diana was bringing the rest of the supplies she needed to deliver her own baby. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She had to make herself be what Jane and Eva needed right now, which meant not only coaching Jane through labor and delivering Eva, but also figuring out a way to get them all out of the situation if they couldn't be rescued.

Because Jane was right: that bitch could not be allowed to even _touch_ Eva.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Over two hours had passed since Diana brought their supplies, and they had not seen her since. Jane wished she had a way to contact to outside world, to find out if Frankie was trying to find them. He had to be, right? It was obvious something was wrong. She was certain her mother had seen Maura's hives, which meant she knew Maura was lying, which meant she knew everything was not okay. She didn't think it would take that long for him to figure out she was at Diana's. Surely he wasn't letting himself get held up trying to get a warrant?

Her contractions had been coming every five minutes for a while now, which meant she was in active labor. If they weren't stuck here, they would have gone to the hospital by now. Sweet Maura was doing her best to manage the situation. Jane had thrown up twice in the bucket Diana had brought, and both times Maura had taken the bucket into the bathroom, dumped it down the toilet, and rinsed it out without complaining. When a contraction hit, Maura held Jane's hand and took deep, soothing breaths along with her because she knew Jane hated slow breathing. Jane had gotten up and walked pantsless around the room a few times, and Maura had walked with her so Jane could lean against her when a contraction hit. Jane didn't think she could have gotten a better labor coach, but she felt horrible that Maura had to do her coaching here instead of in a hospital environment where she would have felt more comfortable and more in control. She felt like the situation might be worse for Maura than it was for her.

She knew she should probably be more worried about the possibility of Diana taking Eva away, but the idea just seemed inconceivable to her. They had gone to a lot of work to have this baby, and they loved her so much already. No one could possibly take her away. They would find a way to stop Diana. Jane was certain of that. It reminded her of the first time she had ever seen Maura in danger, when an ex-cop held a gun to Maura's head after she figured out he had been the one strangling people in order to frame the man he thought was the real Boston Strangler. Jane had felt a strange sense of calm in that moment, an illogical belief that Maura _couldn't_ be shot and therefore it would be impossible _not_ to find a way to save her. Of course Jane had learned since then that it _was_ possible for people to hurt Maura, but her inability to believe it at the time might have been what saved them both.

"You know basic self-defense," Jane mentioned while they were sitting side by side on the bunk. "Maybe you could just take her out."

"Not while she's holding the gun. Even if she doesn't shoot me, the gun could go off by mistake and hit you and Eva."

"What if we can find a way to get her to leave the gun outside?"

"Then I could do it, but we'd have to be able to run away quickly, and you're not up to that."

"I could do it between contractions. All we really need is to get out of the safe room and then block her in like she did to us. Then you could call for help."

"If we can get her to put the gun down, we can do that. Otherwise I don't see how we can."

"I'm pretty sure she'll see right through us if we just _tell_ her to put the gun down, but I guess we have until Eva gets here to figure it out, or until help arrives."

"I will not let her point a gun at my baby."

"Tell her that. Tell her it's too dangerous to have a gun in the room with a baby. Maybe they'll she'll put it down."

"Yeah, and take the baby."

"No, because you will attack her and she won't get the chance. I'll have to be the one holding Eva when Diana comes in."

"I hope it works."

"It'll work." Jane suddenly cried out as another strong contraction hit. Maura took her hand and encouraged her to breathe.

"Take your mind somewhere else," Maura told her gently. "Think about…think of the first time we kissed."

Jane struggled to recall the memory through the pain. It had been a really impulsive decision on her part to suddenly press her lips to Maura's. She had thought it was a mistake, that Maura had kissed back reflexively, and had simply hoped Maura's sweet, forgiving nature would allow her to quickly move on. Instead she had pulled back to see Maura gazing at her trustingly, her eyes full of wonder as if Jane had given her a precious gift.

The contraction passed and Jane relaxed her grip on Maura's hand. "You know," she said, "All things considered, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be locked in a room having a baby with."

Maura smiled slightly. "I wish we were having the baby in the hospital like we were supposed to. I have a copy of the birth plan with me and we can't even follow it."

"We can partially follow it."

"You requested a yoga ball. You wanted to be able to walk around the halls. And you wanted pain medication to be an option if you decided you needed it."

"You got along just fine without it. And you know what? I've been shot before, so I'm sure I can handle this without the luxury of pain meds. And I can still do the other stuff. What else does it say?"

Maura got her copy of the birth plan out of her purse. "You wanted to choose the position for delivery. You want to touch her head when it crowns."

"I can still do those things."

"We wanted skin-to-skin contact immediately after delivery." Maura's eyes filled with tears.

"There is no power on this Earth strong enough to keep me from holding that baby against my skin when she comes out."

"You wanted to wait an hour before having her bathed, which I was supposed to accompany her for. And we wanted to bank her cord blood, like we did for Charlotte." A tear ran down Maura's face. "How are we going to do that now?"

"We'll figure it out, okay? Let's just take one step at a time." Another contraction hit and Jane reached for Maura's hand, already starting the breathing. It did seem to help a little.

"That was only four minutes after your last contraction," said Maura worriedly. "Let me check your cervix again."

Jane obediently pulled the blanket off her lap and got into position. She was pretty sure this was a new record for the number of times she'd had Maura inside of her in one day, but it wasn't quite the way she would have liked to set it. Still, it was better Maura than Dr. Kessler.

"You're up to six centimeters," said Maura. "You're progressing quickly for your first birth."

"That's good. It needs to keep progressing, right?"

"It needs to progress, but if it goes too quickly, we'll lose all hope of getting to the hospital in time." She got up and brought Jane a towel. "You've got a lot of discharge right now. You should put this under you so you're not just sitting in bloody, mucus-covered sheets."

"Is that normal?"

"At this stage, yes." They both looked up at the sound of furniture being scooted on the other side of the door. Jane's heart lifted for a moment as she thought it might be Frankie, but it was just Diana.

"How are things coming?" Diana asked.

"Jane's at six centimeters. Her contractions are four minutes apart."

"So how long until the baby comes out."

"Based on her rate of progression so far, I'd say at least three hours. Possibly four or more hours."

"Does it always take this long?"

"It can take quite a lot longer," Maura said sharply. "She's never given birth before."

"Okay, fine. You still have everything you need?"

"For the moment, yes."

"I have some interesting news for you, Jane," said Diana.

"Yeah?" said Jane.

"Your brother was here looking for you. He didn't say why."

"What did you tell him?"

"I took a gamble and told him I _had_ seen you. I said you two stopped by to help me with something after a grocery shopping trip, but you left soon afterwards because your contractions were getting closer together. I can't tell if he believed me, but he left."

"If I were you, I'd probably let us go so he doesn't come back, search the house, and find us," said Jane. "It won't look good for you."

"There's no chance of that," insisted Diana. "If I let you go, you'll still have me arrested, and I won't get my baby. I'll take my chances with a search. You're not exactly obvious." She looked at Maura, who was looking down. "Oh, Maura, don't be like that. I don't _want_ to hurt you. I just want one person in my life that loves me. You still have Jane and Charlotte." She stopped talking when Jane cried out from her next contraction. Maura, acting as though Diana weren't in the room, rubbed Jane's back and talked to her gently.

"You're doing so well," she told Jane. "You're doing great. I love you so much." She kissed Jane's face. When the contraction passed, she picked up a water bottle and held it to Jane's lips.

"You're a lucky woman, Jane," said Diana. "But I bet you're pissed at Maura for being friends with me in the first place."

"No," said Jane tiredly. "I'm pissed at you for being pretend friends with her. I have no reason to be pissed at her. _She_ did nothing wrong. She just tried to save your sorry ass from loneliness and boredom."

Diana laughed mirthlessly. "Really, what does it take for you two to drop this façade? Gary and I were at each other's throats for more than two decades. We pretended to be happy in front of other people, of course, but you don't have to keep doing that for me. You're never gonna see me again after today."

"No offense, but I don't really get the impression you and Gary loved each other," said Jane.

"Oh yeah, but you and Maura, you're like the couple in a romance novel."

Jane made a face. "I always hated romance novels."

"But you're living one. I bet you tell her you would die for her."

"I don't have to tell her that. She knows."

"And would you kill for her?"

"I already have," said Jane fiercely.

Maura finally looked up. "The most recent time was only three weeks ago."

Diana looked genuinely stunned. "Most recent?"

"You don't read the papers, do you?" said Jane. "Over the years in our perfect lives, a handful of people have tried to kill one or both of us. I've killed several of them, especially when they try to hurt Maura. I stabbed the last one right in the jugular after he threatened to kill my Maura. Not a scratch on her."

"Well, luckily _I_ don't plan to hurt Maura if I can avoid it."

"I'd kill for my children too," said Jane. "I just haven't had to yet."

"You don't have anything to kill me with," said Diana with a smile. "If you don't need anything, I'm going to leave again so you can get on with it."

She went back out and Jane looked at Maura to see tears on her face again. She knew how betrayed Maura must feel, and she hated it.

"I am so going to kill her," said Jane, wiping Maura's tears away. "She says she's not going to hurt you, but she did. She already did. And she wants to hurt Eva too."

"You won't kill her," said Maura. "You're not in any condition to attack someone. I just don't understand how I fell for this, how I thought she was my friend when she wasn't."

"Imagine how her life might be different if she'd actually confided in you like a real friend instead of lying to you about everything. This is her fault, Maura. Not yours."

Another contraction came and Jane breathed her way through it, Maura gently soothing her.

"You deserve so much better than this," Maura whispered when it was over. "You deserve to give birth in a comfortable environment. And Eva deserves to be born in a safe place."

"Hey, Eva doesn't know the difference. All she's going to know is that she has two loving mommies here to greet her. We have to find a way to put all our fear aside when she gets here and just focus on how happy we are to have her, because she deserves to be greeted with joy and smiles instead of worry and frowns. We have to find a way to give that to her."

Maura nodded. "It would help if we had a good plan for how to get out of here."

"Okay," said Jane. "So we'll think of a plan."

XXX

Three hours later, Jane was almost fully dilated and was in no mood to think or talk about anything anymore. It no longer mattered where they were or what was happening. She needed this baby _out_.

She was getting very little break between contractions now, and the pain had become almost unbearable. At one point she'd gotten so hot she'd stripped the rest of her clothes off and was now naked and sweaty, sometimes pulling the blanket over herself and sometimes pushing it away. She was unabashedly yelling at the top of her lungs with each new contraction, often drowning out Maura's soothing words. Right now she was curled on her left side, facing the wall, while Maura gave her a backrub. Maura's soft touch was the only thing that could distract her even slightly from the pain. She vaguely remembered Maura telling her something once about the happy chemicals that the sight or touch of someone you were in love with released in your brain, something about how one of the chemicals was suppressed in the brains of people who were newly in love but released in people who had been together for years and were still deeply in love. Jane had only been half-listening because Maura had been telling her all this during sex, but she got the gist of it: new love made people euphoric, but also anxious; long-established love made people happy and secure. They were in the latter category now, the best one. Maura would always make Jane's brain light up.

She hoped those happy chemicals could also provide some pain relief. She needed it, badly.

As another contraction came on, Jane was overcome with the need to puke again, even though she hadn't eaten anything. She turned over, looking for the bucket, which Maura held up for her. Diana stuck her head in just as Jane was vomiting.

"Ew," said Diana. "I'll come back."

"Bring ice!" Maura yelled before the door shut. She gently pushed Jane's sweat-soaked hair out of her face. "You're doing beautifully," she murmured.

"I can't do this," whispered Jane. "It's too much. I'm not strong enough." She glanced down at the sheets, which were a mess of bloody discharge. She didn't remember Maura being this messy during labor, but she supposed there'd been people around to take care of the mess, so all she'd had to focus on was Maura.

"You _can_ do it," Maura assured her. "You shot yourself and survived. You jumped off a bridge and survived. You pulled a live grenade out of a man's hand and survived. You once beat down two men with your hands tied, and you stabbed a guy while you were 37 weeks pregnant. You are Jane Rizzoli. You can do this."

"I can't. I'm not as strong as you," Another contraction started and she yelled again. Maura had never been this loud during labor.

"You _are_ strong," Maura promised her. "You're the strongest person I know. And you're almost done. Soon it'll be time to start pushing, and then we'll finally see our new baby girl."

Diana came back in and gave Maura a bag of ice, which she held against Jane's forehead.

"You don't need to keep bringing in that gun," Maura told her. "There's really nothing we can do to you right now. It's only adding to the stress."

"And stress slows things down," Jane panted.

"But then after the baby comes out, you'll attack me."

"With what?" Maura snapped. "We have no weapons. Jane will be too weak to move after she pushes the baby out."

"And I'm the only one who knows self-defense," Jane lied before screaming her way through another hard contraction.

"You can't point a gun at the baby," Maura said sternly. "And Jane has to hold her when she first comes out. We can't cut the cord right away, and Jane needs skin-to-skin contact with the baby to produce oxytocin, which helps expel the placenta. The baby also needs to get her first meal from Jane, when she's ready for it. Jane will be producing colostrum, which is essential for newborns. It's very high in protein and antibodies. Really she should have it for the first few days, but you have to at least let her have some. Formula wouldn't even come close."

"Okay, I'll let her have one meal here before I take her. But that's it. I'm not keeping you guys here for days. I've gotta get her out of here."

"Could you put the ice on my back?" Jane asked, turning back towards the wall. She didn't even want to look at Diana anymore.

"Of course," said Maura, pressing the ice against Jane's lower back. Jane heard Diana leaving the room and hoped she really would come back without a gun. Maura was right that they couldn't do much to defend themselves right now, but the idea was to get her used to coming in unarmed and not being attacked so she would let her guard down. Jane could only hope Maura was wrong that she would be too weak to move afterwards. As she'd pointed out before, she only needed to be able to get out of the safe room.

Another contraction came and Jane began to feel like she needed to take a shit. Maura had told her before this meant the baby was descending, that it was time to push, so she began to push. She was relieved when the contraction eased up and she was able to rest again.

"I don't like pushing," she told Maura.

"You don't? I did. It made me feel like I was back in control."

"It's too much work. I'm so tired already."

"Well you have to do it so she can get out of there. Come here. Maybe you'll like it better in a different position." She helped Jane off the bed and into a squatting position. "Gravity will help you if you do it like this. You should get a little bit more of a break between contractions now so you can rest a little. And just think, soon we'll be holding our little Eva!"

"She'll be so beautiful," said Jane with a smile, drinking the water Maura held to her lips. "Like you."

When the next contraction came, Jane began to push again, gripping her knees. Maura got behind her to support her back and coached her gently.

"Tuck your chin, like that. Now push down and keep breathing. Don't hold your breath. Just breathe in and out, in and out. Good!"

Jane got in three pushes before the contraction was over. "I just want to be done," she said quietly.

"I know, but you'll be done soon, and then I'll get the three of us out of here and we'll go to the hospital where you can rest. Then your mother can bring Charlotte to meet her little sister."

Jane smiled a little at that. "I can't wait to see them together."

She continued pushing in that position for several more contractions, sometimes curling up on the floor in between, but eventually she couldn't deal with the back pain anymore and went forward on her hands and knees.

"She's going to crown soon," Maura remarked, kneeling behind her.

"How can you tell?"

"Your perineum is bulging."

Jane sighed. "Are you ever gonna think I'm sexy again after this?"

"You'll be sexier than ever. But it is going to be a little while before we're able to do sexy things again."

"Come here. I need to check your face for hives."

Maura crawled forward and smiled at her. "Your body will need time to heal, and with a newborn and a two-year-old we're not going to have much time and energy for a while. But when the time comes, I think I will find you hotter than ever. See? No hives."

Jane kissed her. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Maura whispered. "Now let's move you up onto the bed if you're going to use this position so your knees won't get sore."

She helped Jane onto the bunk just in time for another contraction to start. The door opened and Diana stuck her head in. Jane screamed even louder at the sight of her.

"It's not really a good time right now, Diana," said Maura. "She's pushing."

"That means the baby's coming out, right?"

"It means she's descending. She's not coming out yet. The whole process can take up to a few hours."

"I just don't want to miss it when she's here," said Diana.

" _GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY DELIVERY ROOM_!" Jane screamed as the pain subsided.

"Women tend to get increasingly irritable as labor progresses," Maura explained calmly.

"She sounds demonically possessed," said Diana. "Fine, I'll go."

"I hate her," Jane breathed when she was gone. "Maura, I know you're a kind-hearted person, but do _not_ be gentle with her. When the time comes, you knock her the fuck out."

"I'll do my best," Maura promised. "I don't have a golf club like I did when I knocked Hawthorne out, but when I learned self-defense I learned a few ways to knock someone out with one blow. I've just never actually _done_ it before, so I don't know if it'll work."

"It'll work. I believe in you, Warrior Woman."

"Well, assuming it does, we'll certainly have a good story to tell Eva about the day she was born."

"Yeah. I hope Charlotte doesn't get too jealous."

The next contraction started and they both got back into position: Jane on her hands and knees, Maura behind her.

"Jane!" Maura cried out ecstatically. "I can see her head!"

Jane continued pushing with each new contraction, encouraged to know the end was in sight. Unfortunately, the pain was only getting worse. In addition to the contractions, she felt like her pussy was stretching in ways it wasn't meant to do. Maura, however, was quite excited, shouting that she was seeing more and more of the head.

"Give me your hand," she said between contractions. She took Jane's hand and placed it between her legs, where she felt something slimy and soft.

"That's her head?" Jane panted.

"That's her head!"

Jane smiled in spite of everything. She had just touched her baby, directly touched her, for the first time.

"Okay, I want you to stop pushing for a little while now and let her descend a bit on her own," Maura told her. "That way you can stretch out more slowly and possibly avoid tearing."

"I can try not to, but I feel like I _have_ to now," said Jane.

"I'll get you through it," Maura promised. When the next contraction came, she told Jane to blow instead of pushing. Jane did, but she hated it. As exhausting as the pushing was, her body was sending her strong signals that she needed to keep doing it. She was relieved when Maura told her to start pushing again. She was a little sad that Maura couldn't be by her side during this process, but in some ways it felt just right that she would be the one to catch the baby, that no one else had to be there (except occasionally Diana) to see Jane in this horrible state. And while she would give anything to get rid of Diana, she wasn't too concerned about making a bad impression on her.

"She's crowning!" Maura said at last. "Jane, keep pushing! This is it!"

Jane pushed, her head down, eyes screwed shut, grunting the whole time. She tried to remember to breathe, but Maura wasn't even worried about that anymore.

"Jane, the top of her head is out! I can see her eyebrows now!" Maura cried. "I can see her nose! Oh Jane, her whole head is out!"

The contraction ended and Jane struggled to catch her breath. She looked down, wishing she could see the baby's head, but she could only vaguely see Maura cradling something in her hand, the other hand holding a cloth.

"I'm just wiping the fluids away from her nose and mouth right now," said Maura. "I think her cord is around her neck."

"That's not good, is it?"

"Well, I'll be able to see better when you push her out more. I may be able to just slip it off."

Jane felt another contraction and began pushing hard, wanting to give Maura a chance to get the cord off.

"All right, I've got a shoulder. Yes, this will just slip right off. There!" Maura said, her voice suddenly higher and more gentle. Jane realized she was talking to the baby. She opened her eyes and tried to see, but she still couldn't see much other than Maura. She pushed again and heard Maura say, "Two shoulders! Just one more push and I'll have her!" So Jane pushed one last time, and then Eva was out.

Jane collapsed onto her side and looked at the tiny baby in Maura's hands. Maura was drying her off with a clean towel and talking to her softly.

"Is she okay?" asked Jane. "She's quiet."

"She's breathing," said Maura. "She looks perfect." Eva left out a single high-pitched cry then, so small and sad it nearly broke Jane's heart. "You want your Mama, don't you?" said Maura. "Jane, turn on your back."

Jane did, and Maura placed the slippery little baby, whose cord still connected her to Jane, onto her bare chest. Jane gently put her hands on her and pressed her lips to the soft little head.

"Eva Suzanne Rizzoli is officially here as of 3:29 p.m., June sixth, 2018," Maura announced proudly. "And that is her name, and it's the only name she will ever have."

"Hi angel," Jane breathed, marveling at her. Eva's eyes were wide open, taking in her new surroundings. "We won't be here long," Jane promised her. "We'll go someplace better. And in a few days, you'll be in your new home."

Maura positioned Eva carefully so her body was on Jane's breast and her head on Jane's chest. "We need to keep her head lower than her body for now so the fluid can finish draining from her airways," she explained.

"Okay," said Jane, lightly stroking Eva's head with one finger. She had just a tiny bit of blonde hair. "You are absolutely perfect. I love you so much, my little angel," she told her.

"And _I_ love you too," said Maura, putting a little cap on Eva's head and covering her with a matching blanket. These were part of the outfit Maura had packed to take Eva home in. There was a blue organza flower on the side of the hat, and the blanket had a frilly blue and white trim. They were a bit fancy for sticking on a newly emerged, unwashed baby, but they were all they had.

"This is our second perfect baby," Jane murmured. "We are so good at this."

Maura laughed and kissed Eva's head. "We love you so much, little Eva," she said. "And we will do a _nything_ to protect you." She turned her head and kissed Jane. "You did great. I think I love you more right now than I ever have before."

"The feeling's mutual. You just delivered our baby single-handedly. We are unstoppable." Jane grinned at her. "Do you feel like your heart's going to explode?"

"A little."

"Me too. I love her, and you, so much. All we need is Charlotte so our little family of four can be together."

"We will be soon enough," Maura promised. "You should go ahead and try to feed her while she's alert. It'll make your uterus contract, which will help you deliver the placenta."

"Okay. Help me figure this out." She repositioned Eva, wrapping the blanket around her. Maura brought over the extra pillows and propped Jane up. She put another pillow on Jane's lap and lay Eva on the pillow.

"All right, now you hold her so she's facing you. Completely facing you. Now pick up your breast with your other hand and just touch her upper lip with your nipple." Jane did, and Eva opened her mouth in response. "Good! Now sort of draw her onto your breast so your nipple is all the way in her mouth. It should be towards the back." Eva started to suck and then let go. "It's okay," said Maura. "Just try again. She'll get the hang of it."

Jane repeated the process, and this time Eva kept sucking quickly. After a few seconds she slowed down and began to swallow.

"Oh, wow. This feels weird," said Jane.

Maura smiled. "You'll get used to it. It looks like she's getting what she needs."

"Is that good?" Jane asked Eva. "I sure hope so, because it's all I know how to make. Oh, I'm having another contraction," said Jane.

"That's to separate the placenta," Maura told her. "You may have the urge to push again soon."

Jane continued to hold Eva close, carefully examining every detail of her face, her fingers, her toes, listening to the sound of her swallowing, while the contractions came and went. "Okay, I think it's ready to come out," she told Maura.

"Okay." Maura grabbed the bowl Diana had brought them earlier and positioned it near Jane's vagina. "Push gently, into the bowl." Jane did, and Maura rubbed her sore stomach while the placenta plopped into the bowl.

"That was a lot easier than pushing the baby out," Jane said, relaxing again. "She came off the boob though."

"Try her on the other one to see if she wants any more."

"Okay." Jane flipped her around and worked to get her going on the other side. She had almost forgotten about Diana when the door opened.

"She's here," breathed Diana. "Oh, look at her. I want to hold her!"

"Not yet!" said Maura. "She's getting her first meal. It's hard latching on at first, so you can't disturb her."

"Is she good? Is she healthy?" asked Diana.

"I haven't been able to give her a full examination yet," said Maura. "I need you to bring me the scissors so I can cut the cord, a plastic bag to put the placenta in, and an ice pack for Jane."

"Okay. I'll be right back."

"You should just stab her when you get the scissors," Jane whispered.

"Don't think I'm not tempted. You aren't ready to be moved yet though, and I don't want Eva to witness that kind of violence."

"It's better than the alternative. Oh, she stopped nursing."

"She's probably done now. Usually a teaspoon of colostrum at a time is enough. She'll nurse longer when you start producing regular milk in a few days, and as her stomach capacity increases." They head the door start to open again and Maura quickly hissed, "Keep pretending to nurse her."

Jane held the now-sleeping baby's face close to her breast as Diana came in with scissors. She did not have her gun.

"I'll cut the cord," she said. "I don't trust you with anything sharp."

"Fine," Maura said in a resigned voice. "Cut the string first. I need two pieces." Diana did, and Maura tied one piece of string around the cord a few inches from the baby. "There's rubbing alcohol in my medical bag. I'd like you to sanitize the scissors with that before I use them."

Diana did so while Maura tied the other piece of string a few inches from the first. "There are police cars outside. I don't know what they're doing," Diana remarked.

"Probably still looking for us," said Jane. "There's no way you're going to get out of here with this baby."

"I'll figure something out."

"Cut the cord between the two pieces of string," Maura instructed, and Diana did. Maura tucked the blanket back around Eva.

"Can I touch her?" Diana asked.

"Not while she's nursing!" Jane said in a shocked voice. "Do you want to completely throw her off and keep her from learning how to eat? The first feeding is crucial. You fuck this up, the baby may fail to thrive."

"Okay! So how long does it take?"

"At least an hour, the first time," Jane assured her.

"How long have you been doing it already?"

"Only a few minutes."

Diana frowned. "I'll come back in half an hour. Maybe the cops will be gone by then."

 _If they are, I'm kicking Frankie's ass_ , thought Jane.

"All right, we have to get you ready," Maura said when Diana was gone. She pulled back the blanket to examine Jane and announced that her uterus wasn't firm enough. "I'll have to massage it," she said, putting one hand in Jane's vagina and the other on her abdomen. She pushed down in both places until Jane began to cramp up.

" _Oww_ ," Jane complained.

"It needs to contract so the bleeding will stop," Maura explained, wrapping the ice pack in a towel and putting it on Jane's vagina. "You'll need a full examination at the hospital to see if you have any tears that need stitching." She dug into the suitcase and pulled out a cloth diaper and a silk nightgown. "Let me see Eva so I can put this diaper on her. You should put on this nightgown."

"I can't believe you brought a nightgown for the hospital," Jane said, handing over the baby. "I just slept in my clothes when Charlotte was born."

"I don't like sleeping in my clothes," said Maura, gently laying Eva on the foot of the bed while she put the diaper on her. Jane had to smile at the expression of sheer delight Maura had on her face as she looked at her baby. She realized as she slipped Maura's fancy nightgown over her head that she had tears in her eyes. Happy tears. She'd never experienced those before Maura. Only Maura, and the wonderful things that happened because of Maura, could make her quite that happy.

"Okay," said Maura, wrapping Eva back up in the blanket. "When she comes back, we're getting out of here. Do you feel like you can walk?"

"I think so," said Jane. She watched as Maura cradled Eva in her arms for a moment, then kissed her and handed her back to Jane.

"You have to hold her now so I'll be ready," said Maura. "But you've got to be prepared to move as soon as I do."

"I'm ready."

They weren't surprised when Diana came back sooner than she said she would. They _were_ surprised that she was holding an infant seat.

"I have to take her now," she said. "I figured out a way to sneak out without the cops noticing, but I have to hurry."

"No," said Maura, firmly planting herself between Diana and the bed. "I won't let you take my baby."

"Maura, just move. It's over. I'm taking Olivia."

"Her name is _Eva_."

"Get over it. She's mine"

"You know nothing about babies. You'd make a terrible mother."

"I'll figure it out, okay? Everyone else does."

"You didn't even ask what time she was born." Maura turned her body sideways, her right side towards Diana.

Diana blinked. "What does it matter? She'll be celebrating her birthday on April 23rd because that's what it says on her birth certificate. Just move."

"You'll have to make me."

Frustrated, Diana moved forward to shove Maura out of the way, but Maura moved towards Diana at the same time, bringing her elbow up and driving it into Diana's throat. Diana fell back, winded. Jane was already on the move, rushing out the door with Eva clutched to her chest. Maura followed close behind and slammed the bookcase door behind them, hastily moving the table to block the door.

"You feel like you can walk outside?" she asked Jane.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here."

Maura put her arm around Jane's waist and they walked together to the front door and then out onto the wide lawn. They saw a car parked on the street and realized as they got closer that it was Frankie. He jumped out when he saw them coming.

"Jane!" he shouted. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Eva had woken up and started to cry. Jane tried to soothe her, but she began to feel woozy and decided to hand her off to Maura.

"We need an ambulance," Maura said quickly. "Jane just had the baby. Diana had us locked in her safe room."

"We thought you might be at her house," Frankie said after calling for a bus. "Ma said you told her something about a note, so we thought you meant you were with the person who was writing the notes, and Jane said a while back she wondered if it could be Diana, so when we saw the last place your cell phones pinged was in Wellesley, we came here. But we couldn't find any obvious sign of you, and we didn't have enough to get a search warrant. Diana said you'd been here this morning but that you left before the time when Ma talked to you, so we had to consider the possibility that something happened right after you left Diana's. She even let us come in and look around a little at one point, and there was nothing. No sign of you."

"We were behind a secret bookcase door in the library," said Jane grimly. "She planned to take Eva. But my badass wife delivered the baby and then took the bitch out. She's barricaded behind the secret bookcase door now."

Maura smiled fondly at Jane, but noticed she was still unsteady. "You need to sit down," she told her firmly.

"Get in my car," said Frankie, opening the passenger door. "I gotta call Ma and let her know you're all right. She's been freaking out."

"Tell her to meet us at the hospital," said Jane, gratefully lowering herself into the car seat.

"I will," promised Frankie.

For the first time in her life, Jane was happy to be loaded into an ambulance. She had Eva in her arms again, and the paramedics took both their vital signs while Maura spewed a bunch of medical jargon, explaining to them what had happened so far and what still needed to be done. After giving final instructions to Frankie about what to look for in the crime scene and making him take a quick picture of them with Eva, they rode off to the hospital in Boston where Eva was supposed to be born.

Not long after they'd gotten settled into their room, Angela appeared with Charlotte in her arms. "Where is my grandbaby?" she demanded. "Is she okay?"

"She's here," said Jane from the bed. She was wearing a hospital gown now and had it pulled down around her shoulders so Eva could lie on her bare chest again. "She's absolutely perfect."

"Jane did great," Maura said proudly. "And Eva's doing great too. Jane's right. She's perfect."

"I think she looks like Maura," said Jane happily. "Charlotte, your new baby sister is here!"

Maura took Charlotte from Angela and brought her to the bed. "This is baby Eva," she said. "She's finally here."

Charlotte looked down at Eva thoughtfully, her hand on her cheek. "Hi Eva," she said. "Can I touch you?"

"You can touch her, but be very, very gentle," Maura instructed, setting Charlotte down on the bed next to Jane. Charlotte leaned down slowly and kissed Eva ever so softly on the head.

"Good job," said Jane, lifting one hand from Eva to touch her older daughter's curls. She looked up at Maura and beamed. "This is it," she said. "Our family's complete now."

Maura grinned back. "It's the most beautiful family I've ever seen."


	21. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Is everyone ready?" Angela asked.

"I'm ready!" said Maura, turning on her camera.

"I have matches," said Jane.

"I'm ready!" said Charlotte, although there wasn't anything in particular they needed her to do.

"Okay, here it comes!" Angela set Eva's very first birthday cake on the high chair tray, where Eva eyed it uncertainly. Jane lit the candle, and Maura began snapping pictures. Eva looked beautiful in the little pink silk dress Maura had gotten especially for the occasion. Her blonde hair just covered her head now, and her eyes were the same green as Charlotte's – one of the few features the two sisters had in common. Eva's face very much resembled Maura's, which felt strange to her. She'd gone most of her life without ever seeing a face similar to her own, and when she finally did, it wasn't quite what she'd dreamed of. This was different. She felt a sort of healing of old wounds when she looked at Eva, a feeling that she was starting over with her genetic material and leaving the mistakes of former generations behind her.

"Blow out your candle!" Jane told Eva after everyone was done singing to her. With a solemn expression, Eva blew very gently. The candle flame wavered, but didn't go out.

"Blow harder!" Maura encouraged. Eva took a deep breath, her little chest puffing out, and blew out the candle. Everyone cheered, which made Eva smile.

"Now eat the cake!" said Angela. Eva looked at the cake hesitantly, then looked from Maura to Jane to Angela as if expecting help.

"Just stick your hand in it and grab some," Jane encouraged her.

Eva lifted a hand and tentatively touched the cake, then pulled her hand away and looked at her fingers, which now had icing on them. A look of horror spread across her face as she let out a single, heart-breaking cry.

"Oh no," said Jane, hurriedly grabbing a napkin and wiping the icing off Eva's fingers.

"She doesn't like to get messy," Charlotte stated matter-of-factly.

"I know, but everyone's supposed to smash a cake on their first birthday," said Jane. "It's tradition."

"She doesn't have to do it if she doesn't want to. It's _her_ birthday," said Maura. She cut a slice out of the cake and put it on a plate, then put a forkful in Eva's mouth.

"Mmmm!" exclaimed Eva, her face lighting up. She swallowed her first bite of cake and opened her mouth for more.

"I guess she didn't need her own cake after all," said Angela.

"What kind of baby doesn't like to get messy?" Jane muttered in Maura's ear, an amused smile on her face.

It was true that Eva was quite different from Charlotte. While Charlotte had always been a torrent of energy, constantly getting into things, Eva was quieter and more observant. She was very curious and liked to explore, but she was cautious, and she usually listened when they told her not to do something. Charlotte was outgoing, while Eva didn't want strangers anywhere near her (possibly not a bad thing, considering that the first stranger she'd ever met had wanted to kidnap her). And Charlotte had always been daring, although she was a bit clumsy. She had started walking at ten and a half months in spite of having poor balance, and as a result had fallen on her face more than a few times. Eva, on the other hand, had yet to take a single independent step, even though she walked perfectly while holding someone's hand. It was like she wanted to be absolutely certain she had mastered it before trying it on her own. She also loved to be held and cuddled, which Maura was happy about. Charlotte would sometimes sit on someone's lap, but it had to be her idea and she had to be in just the right mood. Eva was almost always in the mood. She was very affectionate, and both mommies loved it.

Still, the two sisters got along remarkably well. Eva adored Charlotte and wanted to be near her whenever possible, and Charlotte had an uncanny knack for reading Eva's emotions in any given situation. She was already showing signs of protectiveness over her little sister.

When Eva was done with her cake, Maura took her out of her high chair and handed her the helium-filled balloon she'd been eyeing. Her face became a picture of pure delight as she waved the string around, causing the balloon to hit her face and then fly back up. She laughed like it was the funniest thing that had ever happened to her.

"I've never seen someone enjoy a balloon so much!" laughed Nina, who was holding her infant son Barry in her arms. Barry had arrived on November 15. When Eva was five months old. He had big, brown eyes like Frankie's (and therefore also like Jane's), just a little bit of black, curly hair, and a laid-back demeanor.

"Yeah, at least she's a regular baby in some ways," said Jane, slipping an arm around Maura's waist. "She's probably the only kid on the planet to refuse to smash a cake on her first birthday."

"Oh, I doubt that," admonished Maura. "There have to be others."

"It's hard to believe she's one already," said Nina. "This is also the anniversary of a not so pleasant event for you two. How are you doing with that?"

"We prefer to remember the positive aspects of that day," said Jane, giving Maura a squeeze. "That day, I survived giving birth in a small room with no drugs, my amazing wife delivered a healthy baby and then took out a serious threat, thereby saving us all, and we got a precious little girl. All in all, it was a good day."

"I'm just grateful that we still have our Eva," said Maura, hugging Jane back. "I don't know what we'd do without her." She looked fondly at her younger daughter, who was still having fun with the balloon. Charlotte had gotten her own balloon and was now playing with Eva, both of them laughing. Maura couldn't imagine living without this, or without any of the sweet little moments they'd had with Eva over the past year. When she thought of the damage Diana had tried to inflict on their family, she found it hard to feel bad about crushing Diana's trachea. Diana had recovered with the help of surgery, but there was a possibility of future complications. Her defense attorney had made much of the crushed trachea during the trial, insisting that Maura was no victim if she was capable of inflicting that kind of injury, but the jury had sided with the mother defending her newborn baby. Diana had been convicted on three counts of kidnapping at gunpoint, one of a minor, and sentenced to twenty years in prison. By the time she got out, Eva would be in college.

"We never would have let that woman take our baby," Jane assured her. "I'm just grateful you still find me attractive after that experience."

Maura laughed. "You've seen me give birth, and you still find me attractive!"

"Yeah, but you weren't naked and screaming with your butt in my face."

Nina laughed too. "I'm glad Frankie didn't have to deliver Barry, but I think it's kind of cool Maura delivered Eva."

"It _was_ cool," Jane agreed, smiling at Maura. "I mean, it didn't seem that way so much at the time, but in retrospect it does. On that day, Maura was a doctor, a midwife, a nurse, a doula, a labor coach, a bodyguard, _and_ a mother. And the first two people to touch Eva were her moms, not a doctor." Jane kissed Maura's head. "She's the best mother I could possibly have chosen for my kids."

Just then, Eva lost her grip on her balloon and it drifted up towards the ceiling. She instinctively took a step towards it.

"Jane," said Maura softly. "That was her first step!"

"Well, her first step without hanging onto something," said Jane. She grabbed the balloon and held it down to Eva's level, a few feet away. Eva reached for it but remained planted in her spot. "Come on! You can do it! You already took one step by yourself!" Jane encouraged her.

"Come on, Eva!" Charlotte took her little sister's hand and Eva gratefully started walking towards the balloon.

"Let go of her hand and see if she keeps walking," Jane told her.

Charlotte let go, and Eva faltered. She cried out "Balloon!" in her saddest voice, and Maura worried Jane would give in (people thought it would be Maura, but Jane was the real softie where the kids were concerned).

But Jane stayed strong. "You can do it, Eva. It's just a few more steps."

Eva hesitantly put one foot forward, then the other, until she had crossed the small space between herself and Jane. "Good job! I knew you could do it!" Jane said, handing over the balloon and giving Eva a kiss. Eva just looked happy to have her balloon back.

"Can you walk to me?" Maura asked, kneeling on the floor. Eva looked at her thoughtfully and then began to walk, slowly and then a little faster, until she reached her Mommy. Maura scooped her up in her arms and stood up. "I'm so proud of you!" she told Eva.

"Balloon," said Eva quietly, still gripping the string.

"So she was born on her due date, and now she starts walking on her first birthday," said Jane. "That kid is on a strict schedule. How do we convince her she's not scheduled to go on her first date until she's thirty?"

Maura smiled. "That means we'd be in our seventies when she started dating. It might be difficult for you to threaten her dates within an inch of their lives at that age. And I know you'll want to, whether they're male or female."

"Nobody's breaking my babies' hearts on my watch," promised Jane, planting a kiss on Eva's head. Eva continued to play with her balloon in Maura's arms, oblivious to the life-changing milestone she had just achieved.

XXX

It was a beautiful June day, so they ate Eva's birthday dinner out on the patio, and then the kids ran around the yard until dusk. Eva quickly learned that it was easier to follow her sister everywhere now that she was traveling on two limbs instead of four, and she had a grand time playing with Charlotte and T.J. while Barry watched from his blanket. When the guests were finally gone, Angela helped Maura clean up while Jane took the girls upstairs to give them a bath. Then Angela went to Ron's and it was just the four of them again.

Maura finished putting the house back in order and then found her family in the living room, both girls in their pajamas and smelling strongly of shampoo. Jane was nursing a sleepy Eva on the couch, while Charlotte sat on the floor building with wooden blocks, her favorite stuffed rabbit beside her.

"Hi sweet girl. What are you building?" Maura asked, getting down on the floor with Charlotte.

"A castle," said Charlotte, unsurprisingly. She was very interested in fairy tales.

"Mm. I like it! You're a good architect."

"You can live in my castle," Charlotte offered.

"I would love to live there! But only if you and Eva and Mama live there too."

"Okay." Charlotte continued building. "Can a castle have two queens?"

"It most certainly can," Maura assured her.

Charlotte lined up four wooden peg people on top of the castle. "This is Queen Mommy, and Queen Mama, and Princess Charlotte and Princess Eva."

"I like that," said Maura. "I think we'll be excellent rulers."

"Uh huh," said Charlotte. "We give food to all the people that don't have enough food."

"No one goes hungry in our kingdom," Maura agreed, kissing Charlotte on the forehead before getting up to join her wife on the couch.

"Well there's no king, so it's a _queendom_ ," said Jane. "But I'd rather be a knight. Can I be a knight?"

"You can be a queen knight," Charlotte told her.

"You married the queen. That makes you a queen too, even if you're a knight," Maura told her logically.

"Fine, as long as I get to keep my sword. And my shiny armor. And my trusty steed." Eva was out cold by now, so Jane put her exposed breast away. Maura leaned her head on Jane's shoulder and lightly touched Eva's hair.

"I wouldn't dream of taking those things away from you," Maura said sleepily. "What could be sexier than a breastfeeding knight?"

"Might be tricky with the armor, but I'd find a way. I think we probably fell in love after I slayed the dragon that was threatening your castle."

"No, the dragon is our pet," said Charlotte, holding up a toy dragon.

"Fine, I _tamed_ the dragon."

Charlotte, starting to look sleepy herself, picked up her rabbit and climbed into Maura's lap. Maura wrapped her arms tightly around the three-year-old, still leaning against Jane.

"Remember on Charlotte's first birthday when we had to wash icing out of her hair and out from between her toes after the party?" Jane asked Maura.

"Yes," Maura agreed with a smile.

"There wasn't any on Eva. And her silk dress that can't be washed normally? Spotless. I'm not sure she's a real baby."

"She's just a _tidy_ baby."

" _That_ is an oxymoron. As for Charlotte, it was a good call putting her in a cotton dress. Her dress had grass stains on the front and back, as well as icing and a few food substances I couldn't easily identify. She took longer to get clean than her little sister."

"They have very different personalities."

"Yeah." Jane looked at Charlotte, who Maura noticed had fallen asleep. "You know, I have to be the luckiest person in the world to get to spend each day with these three loves ladies."

Maura smiled, though she could barely hold her own eyes open. "I am too. I'm glad no one separated us."

"No one could ever have the power."

"Sometimes I look at Eva and just think, 'She's still here. We still have her. No one took her away.' And I feel so…"

"Triumphant?"

"Yes, among other things."

"Sometimes I look at you and think the same thing. At least no one can say we don't appreciate what we have."

Maura let her eyes close. Quiet evenings like this, when they were all together, were her very favorite thing. Everything she wanted in the world was right here within her reach, a feeling of safety surrounding their little family. She thought about the past year, Eva's first year, the first year since their family became complete. It had been in so many ways an ordinary year. No one had threatened them, pointed weapons at them, given them weird notes, spread lies about them on the internet, killed people to get at them, or forced them to be anywhere they didn't want to be. They had simply enjoyed their maternity leave and then gone back to work, Jane working part-time at the Academy and Maura working her usual post-Charlotte hours at the ME's office. Eva had gone through the usual series of firsts – first tooth, first Christmas, first word. Maura had published her second book. Barry had been born. They'd had to deal with Diana's trial, but that was over now, and Diana would be behind bars for a long time to come. In truth, it was probably the most peaceful year she and Jane had experienced together.

And maybe, Maura thought as she drifted off to sleep, it would actually stay like this.

 **The end! Thank you so much for reading! I loved the reviews, particularly the speculation about what might happen. I'm sad to be finished with this trilogy, but this is not entirely the end. I currently have a just-for-fun story up called Dancing in the Shadows that is basically a series of one-shots about this family. It isn't updated very frequently, but each chapter is a self-contained story and they're all full of fluff and smut. Thank you again for being so awesome and making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! :-D**


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